Professor Ken Miller, professor emeritus of biology at Brown University and author of a science textbook, announced on Friday that he had removed several references to “climate change” from the book used in Florida’s public schools.
Miller, co-author of several biology textbooks with Joseph Levine, told the Orlando Sentinel in an article published on Friday that state officials called his publishers last month to inform them of state-directed changes. Some references to climate change had been removed from middle school science books.
According to publisher Savvas, which publishes the Miller and Levine high school biology textbooks used nationwide, a 90-page section on the topic was removed from a high school chemistry textbook.
Miller stated in an email to Newsweek on Saturday that. “For certain states, such as Florida and Texas, we write special editions closely correlated to their unique science standards.” “We submitted our new Florida edition in 2023, and school districts have been evaluating it for adoption and use in the 2024-2025 academic year, which begins in a few weeks.”
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A second author, whose identity is not revealed, gave the Orlando Sentinel a similar story to Miller’s. The author said, “They asked to take out phrases such as climate change.” State officials reportedly wanted to remove “extraneous information” not listed in state standards.”
According to a newspaper, Miller’s high school biology textbook was required to include citations protecting statements that “human activity” caused climate change and to eliminate a “political statement” suggesting legal action to stop climate change.
Climate change has become a politically charged topic, with many members of the Republican Party denying its existence and others working to stop legislation to eliminate it, such as cutting greenhouse gas emissions or other forms of climate change prevention.
The Republican-led legislature passed HB 1645, which was signed into law by Gov. DeSantis in May. The law eliminated the term “climate change” from several Florida laws and took effect on July 1. The bill indicates that solving climate change is not a state priority and does not directly address state education and science standards.
According to the final bill analysis by the Florida House of Representatives Staff, “remove a provision that provides for recognizing and addressing the potential of global change as a state energy policy.” It promotes the “cost-effective development and use of a diverse supply of domestic energy resources in the state.”
