Professor Details Florida’s State-Directed Changes in Science Textbooks

Ken Miller, a science textbook author and professor emeritus of biology at Brown University, said Friday that several references to “climate change” have been removed from his textbooks used in Florida public schools.

Miller, who has co-authored several biology textbooks, Orlando Sentinel In an article published Friday, his publisher said it received a call from state officials last month informing them of the state-mandated changes, which required removing some references to “climate change” and removed the term from middle school science textbooks. His publisher said a 90-page section on the subject was removed from high school chemistry textbooks.

Newsweek Miller was contacted via email on Saturday seeking comment and confirmation.

The second author, who asked to remain anonymous, said: Newsweek While we have not independently identified a similar account to Miller, Orlando Sentinel. The anonymous author said state officials had asked publishers to remove “irrelevant information” that wasn’t listed in state standards and “asked them to remove words like climate change.”

The paper said Miller’s high school biology textbook was asked to add citations defending the claim that “human activity” causes climate change and to remove “political statements” that suggested legislative action to stop climate change.

Climate change is a politically sensitive topic, with many Republican lawmakers denying its existence and others working to block legislation to curb it, such as incentivizing cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

In May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill (HB 1645) proposed by the Republican-led Legislature to remove the phrase “climate change” from several Florida laws. The bill went into effect on July 1. The bill does not directly address the state’s education or science standards, indicating that addressing climate change is not a priority for the state.

However, according to a Florida House staff analysis of the final bill, the bill “removes provisions that would require state energy policy to recognize and address the ‘potential of global climate change,'” and instead promotes “the cost-effective development and use of the state’s diverse domestic energy resources.”

Newsweek Governor DeSantis’ press office and the Florida Department of Education (DOE) were reached via email on Saturday for comment and confirmation.

Governor DeSantis has come under fire from liberal activists over various incidents of book banning and censorship in Florida’s public schools. In April, anti-book banning group PEN America released a report stating that “Florida had the most book bannings, with 3,135 cases across 11 school districts.”

The governor’s office said in a press release in February that the state is “not banning books, but rather empowering parents to challenge obscene material in the classroom.”