Teachers' union wary of Al Gore's DVDs

Climate Change USA

The us's National Science Teachers Association (nsta) has spurned an offer for 50,000 free dvds of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Laurie David, the film's executive producer says he received an e-mail from the association saying that the acceptance of the dvds would place an "unnecessary risk upon the association's capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters." In the email nsta claimed that it didn't want to offer "political" endorsement of the film and saw "little, if any benefit to the association or its members" in accepting the free dvds.

It is clear that the nsta wants to play safe. It has influential partners, including Exxon Mobil.In a recent document, Exxon Mobil Foundation President Edward Ahnert explains its "partnership" with the science teacher's association clearly. "The nsta is such a natural partner for us. No other organization has the ability to reach thousands of teachers who share Exxon's commitment to improving science education," says Ahnert.

So, now it seems that 10,000-odd teachers will return home with more oil propaganda after attending the association's national conference held from March 29 through April 1, 2007.