Board of Education clash over science standards reveals how politics steers Colorado classrooms on climate change

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project

Politicizing climate change

Let me start with a quote from the CPR article linked at bottom. The article is about how the Colorado State Board of Education recently amended science standards.

“The board’s lengthy discussion reflects how a topic the scientific community agrees on — that human activities cause global warming — can become political outside of scientific circles.”

The article then proceeds to detail how conservative/Republican members of the Board of Ed sought amendments to some of the science standards around global warming. There is, conversely, little to nothing about the liberal/Democratic board members, save for some snappy comebacks included by CPR’s Brundin.

As for the Republican members, they sought such terrible things as reminders that renewables carry their own carbon costs, and the explicit mention in the standards that students could explore things outside of the usual climate orthodoxy.

It’s clear what we the readers are supposed to do: we are supposed to cluck our tongues at how conservatives and Republicans have politicized something that is scientific. How on earth can they ignore “THE” science? How can they politicize our very survival?

I’m sorry, but climate change has been politicized for a while now and it ain’t just been one ideological bent that did it. It’s just been both sides.

It’s been by and large one particular scientific viewpoint that has gotten funding, and little debate allowed.

It’s been a media so eager to push one narrative on the topic that they abandon completely any measure of skepticism in the research they report on.

It’s been threat inflation used by both environmentalists and (oddly enough) energy companies together to shake the government money tree so subsidies could be used to drive green fixes that aren’t green.**

And it’s been statements like Brundin’s used to diminish or try to stop open and free discussion of the topic–in an analogous fashion to labeling someone or something racist to shut down discussion in that arena.

I’m glad that the conservative/Republican board members got some balance in the standards. Good on them!

The last thing to leave you with on this is to note that their victory here was really only made possible by the fact that they sat in the chair. That is, they got elected because they tried.

We need more of this in Colorado. If you’re considering a run for office or for some board, remember this example and take heart. If this sparked a curiosity and you’d like to learn more about getting involved in some way or another, and you don’t know where to start, get with me and I’ll connect you to resources.

**Natural gas companies love them some wind turbines because they necessarily require backup generation which is, you guessed it, natural gas supplied.

https://www.cpr.org/2025/08/22/colorado-education-board-amends-science-standards

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COLORADO ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

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