The global warming debate is over, at least at Worthington Board of Education meetings.

After listening to a second round of debaters on Monday night, board president Julie Keegan said that if residents have concerns about what is being taught in Worthington classes, there are procedures to follow to register their concerns.

"In future meetings, we will not address global warming or how it is addressed in our curriculum," she said after six people -- not all of them district residents -- talked to the board about the divisive climate change issue.

Board member David Bressman waited until the end of the meeting to register his reaction.

"Frankly, I'm sick and tired of it coming before the board," he said.

At both the March 8 and March 22 board meetings, the questioning of a few was met by many more who said that global warming is not scientific debate, but a political and economic one.

The primary global warming questioner at both meetings was Robert Wagner, who listed his address as Honeywood Court, which is in southwest Columbus.

Anyone who thinks global warming is a given is mistaken, he said on Monday. The data on which that conclusion is based are flawed, he said.

Wagner said he would like to set up a debate with Lonnie Thompson, one of the foremost experts in climatology. Thompson lives in Clintonville and was one of the speakers at the March 8 meeting.

Thompson said he would debate, but only against peer-reviewed scientists, Wagner said.

"Peer review is a rigged system," Wagner said.

Richard Gunther, a parent in Worthington and a political science instructor at Ohio State University, said that politics should not be allowed to undermine the quality of education in Worthington.

There is no question that man's consumption of fossil fuels has caused dramatic changes in the world's atmosphere, he said.

There has also been a rapid polarization of political views in this country in recent years, and the global warming "debate" reflects that, he said.

He pointed to radio and television talk show hosts like Glenn Beck, who he said has tried to mobilize his followers to put pressure on school boards.

"Scientific inquiry must remain insulated from politics," he said.

Resident Abramo Ottolenghi compared the debate on global warming to that on evolution. One deferred scientific principles to God, the other to "the god of money," he said.

Worthington parent Andy Katona said he would take his concerns about how global warming is taught to the state board of education, which is rewriting state science curriculum and standards.