Doctors' group wants educational materials from fossil fuel companies kept out of classrooms

A doctor whose son came home from school with an assignment she says promotes fossil fuels is calling on the B.C. government to stop allowing companies like FortisBC to provide educational materials to public schools. 

Lori Adamson, an emergency room doctor in Salmon Arm, B.C., and member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, said her seven-year-old son brought home an assignment that asked students to identify the three states of matter: liquid, solid, and gas. 

The images representing gas on the worksheet were items that use natural gas, such as a gas stove and a gas furnace. 

"It had FortisBC's logo on it, and you could tell it was basically a fossil fuel advertisement in a Grade 2 classroom," Adamson said to Stephen Quinn in an interview on CBC's The Early Edition.

"I had just become aware that FortisBC had developed an entire K-12 curriculum targeted at students … and so when I saw his assignment I couldn't believe it. It was just two days after I learned about it and there it was."

The B.C. chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment released an open letter to Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside on Wednesday urging her to end fossil fuel promotion in schools.

FortisBC could not be reached for comment, but on its website it says its Energy Leaders program is focused on providing lessons on natural gas, climate change and energy conservation.

A news release in 2020 from the company says that since launching the program in 2017, more than 20,000 teachers have downloaded material.

A statement from the Education Ministry says it does not review or endorse educational resources provided by industry, and does not "recommend or authorize the use of resources like FortisBC's Energy Leaders program.''

"We are reviewing this issue to ensure classrooms are free of corporate priorities, so students can continue to learn in an unbiased environment," the ministry said.

It also says the B.C. curriculum offers a strong foundation for climate change education.

Adamson said her son's teachers were understanding when she spoke with them about the matter, but other teachers in B.C. have told her they have limited resources for lesson plans. 

"I think the teachers are just struggling to find resources and support sometimes to be able to teach their lessons, and [the FortisBC curriculum] is very accessible and usable," she said.

Adamson said the Ministry of Education should work on developing independent and science-based curriculums that include climate literacy for teachers to use. 

"The impact of fossil fuels on climate change is staring us in the face … and so I really think that advertising fossil fuels in classrooms and normalizing their use to our youth … is just dishonest," said Adamson. 

B.C. Teachers' Federation president Teri Mooring said in a statement provided by the association of physicians that teachers want an end to corporate ads in schools.

"The BCTF has long been concerned about corporate advertising and presence in schools, and has policies against the commercialization of public education,'' the statement says. "The fossil fuel industry has no place in B.C. classrooms, especially as we face an unprecedented climate crisis.''

She says the federation will work with the government in "developing unbiased, science-based climate education resources.''

The association says its open letter has the backing of nearly 100 other organizations, including the Vancouver Island Health Authority.