While developing activities on coal and the climate crisis in 2011 for Rethinking Schools magazine, I ran across a curriculum, The United States of Energy, from Scholastic, the venerable education publisher. It was a colorful series of lessons, aimed at fourth-graders, which explored the various sources for energy in the United States. The
This Is What Happened When Scholastic Tried To Bring Pro-Coal Propaganda To School
“The United States of Energy” was a colorful series of lessons on the advantages of coal, aimed at 4th-graders—and sponsored by Big Coal. Here’s how educators and activists worked together to get it out of classrooms.