TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Today, Sierra Club Florida sent a letter to Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. urging him to reinstate climate change education in Florida’s school curriculums.
In July, education officials directed publishers to remove references to climate change from textbooks used in Florida's public schools, the latest example of the state’s censorship of facts that don’t fit the DeSantis Administration’s radical agenda. Earlier this year, the Governor signed HB 1645, a law that removed the phrase “climate change” as a priority in state energy policy, while reversing long-standing green energy policies and legislation.
In a state on the frontlines of the climate crisis, education is crucial for raising awareness, fostering critical thinking, and empowering the public to take action on one of the most pressing issues of our time. By censoring information on climate change, the state is not only failing our students, but in turn all Floridians, whose homes, jobs, and futures depend on our ability to address this global emergency.
Susannah Randolph, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Director, said, “Governor DeSantis continues to tout himself as a champion for freedom and the environment, while in reality restricting and censoring information that’s needed to protect our environment. Taking climate change out of the classroom does not make it any less real, but it does make us less prepared and equipped to address it. We call on the Florida Department of Education to reject the Governor’s war on science, and reverse the ban on climate change education in Florida’s schools immediately.”
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