Coal indoctrination in schools

Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, etc. – one thing they have in common is how they endlessly decry what they (falsely) perceive as “indoctrination” in schools, usually (if not only) when it comes to Obama. Remember just a few weeks ago, when Obama gave a speech to schoolchildren nationwide? Yeah, that was indoctrination. (Hell, it was even a government takeover of schools, really.)

It seems fittingly ironic that it is in fact their own party and acolytes who are responsible for actual indoctrination towards children, as Think Progress reports. Few are as single-mindedly supportive of filthy coal whilst being endless opponents of greener sources of fuel and energy than are Republicans, and now, here is their latest effort to kid people into thinking coal is the way to go: teach it to the kids.

Friends of Coal (FOC) is a front group created by the West Virginia Coal Association. Its mission is to “inform and educate West Virginia citizens about the coal industry” and “provide a united voice” for the industry. To make dirty coal seem appealing, FOC has sponsored or initiated license plates, football games, basketball practices, plane jumps, fishing events, and scholarships.

FOC is now selling coal to children. ThinkProgress obtained the “Let’s Learn About Coal” coloring book, which asks children to unscramble statements about the “advantages” of coal, such as “Than coal other cheaper is fuels” (”Coal is cheaper than other fuels”). Kids also learn that coal is “important” and “provides jobs for lots of people!”:

[Click to view the coloring book (PDF)]

The FOC Ladies Auxiliary has been handing the coloring book out to children around West Virginia as part of a “Coal in the Classroom” campaign. Coal officials go into schools and give presentations about the importance of coal. “We’d really like this to be statewide, that it be mandatory in the schools that they learn about coal,” said FOC ladies auxiliary president Regina Fairchild in January. The ladies auxiliary is also recruiting members for its “junior” FOC group, open to “girls and boys ages 8 to 16.”

Additionally, FOC ladies auxiliary members have visited children in West Virginia hospitals to give them a “special present“: Mr. Coal, “a small, black Labrador stuffed puppy meant to bring a smile to kids’ faces during hospital stays.” (Coal pollution kills 24,000 Americans each year.)

It’s exasperating (yet also amusingly hypocritical) to see how far these self-centered conservative lobbyists will stop at nothing to try and keep people from discovering alternative sources of energy and fuel. But then, going green is their vision of the coming Socialist Apocalypse, after all, so it’s no surprise that they would stoop to indoctrinating kids – whilst, of course, simultaneously howling in outrage at anyone else who tries to share ideas with schoolchildren.

Humbug.

(via @todayspolitics)
Technorati tags: coal energy · schools · indoctrination · hypocrisy