Why Are Oil-and-Gas Companies Developing Lesson Plans for Teachers? | The Walrus:

Teachers typically develop their own plans, drawing on a variety of resources as well as their expertise and creativity. In some cases, though, they may rely on material prepared by other organizations such as TD Bank, which offers financial lesson plans for students from kindergarten to grade twelve. For a teacher strapped for time, FortisBC’s kits might have seemed like a gift, but buried within them are subtle nods to the company itself and the wider fossil fuel industry. These indirect endorsements reveal the veiled tactics of a sector desperate to delay the climate action that could upend its business model.

“Earth is heating up,” reads a slideshow from a grade seven lesson plan produced by FortisBC on the causes of climate change. It touches on the greenhouse effect and the difference between various greenhouse gases. It explains that these gases are released when coal, oil, and natural gas are burned and then directs teachers to ask their students how they use fossil fuels in their own lives, how their homes are heated, and how they get to school. Then the lesson plan instructs teachers to “explain that natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, with the lowest carbon emissions.”

Why Are Oil-and-Gas Companies Developing Lesson Plans for Teachers? | The Walrus: Teachers typically develop their own plans, drawing on a variety of resources as well as their expertise and creativity. In some cases, though, they may rely on material prepared by other organizations such as TD Bank, which offers financial lesson plans for students from kindergarten to grade twelve. For a teacher strapped for time, FortisBC’s kits might have seemed like a gift, but buried within them are subtle nods to the company itself and the wider fossil fuel industry. These indirect endorsements reveal the veiled tactics of a sector desperate to delay the climate action that could upend its business model.“Earth is heating up,” reads a slideshow from a grade seven lesson plan produced by FortisBC on the causes of climate change. It touches on the greenhouse effect and the difference between various greenhouse gases. It explains that these gases are released when coal, oil, and natural gas are burned and then directs teachers to ask their students how they use fossil fuels in their own lives, how their homes are heated, and how they get to school. Then the lesson plan instructs teachers to “explain that natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, with the lowest carbon emissions.”Read More