Global warming: fact or hoax?

That may be a great topic for a debate, but not at a school board meeting, Worthington Board of Education president Julie Keegan said Monday night.

While all nine people who signed up to speak on the topic were permitted five minutes each to address the board, the board refused to get involved and directed those concerned about how global warning is taught in the classroom to look elsewhere for a platform.

Keegan said that Worthington's science curriculum is set by state standards, not by the local school board.

State science education standards are currently being rewritten by the state, so those with concerns would be better off directing them to the state board of education, she said.

The popular conservative viewpoint that global warming is a hoax and a conspiracy was first presented to the board by resident Andy Katona at a board meeting last month. On Monday, he was joined by Robert Wagner, an optometrist who has a master's degree in economics.

He has developed a presentation on the fallacy of the science behind global warming and asked that the board allow him to present it to classes in Worthington.

"It goes to the side no one is talking about," he said. "It is an open discussion."

He also promotes a Web site that presents his side of the issue. It is CO2islife.com.

He offered to debate Lonnie Thompson, Ph.D., a glaciologist who is one of the country's leading authorities on global warming. Thompson lives in Clintonville, has spoken to Worthington classes in the past, and spoke to the board on Monday night.

"Glaciers have no political agenda," he said. "The ice on the planet is disappearing."

Since climate change will present problems for the next generation, students need to learn about it when they are in high school, he said.

The issue is not whether or not global warming is a hoax or not, but where one gets one's information, said Andy Keeler. Keeler is a Worthington parent who has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkley.

"We're talking about opinion overruling science," he said.

Ellen Mosely-Thompson agreed, saying that teachers need to know where their information comes from. There is much information and disinformation available, she said.

"The Internet is both a blessing and a curse," she said.

In an interview following the meeting, board member Marc Schare said he agreed those with concerns should take them to the state board of education.

He said he did not see the purpose of random debates on the subject, but would like to see a planned, public program.

"If they want to duke it out on the stage of Thomas Worthington (High School), I would support that," Schare said.