The Louisiana Coalition for Science is proud to present our first-ever guest column, which was written by Dr. Ian Chandler Binns.

Dr. Binns joined LCFS’s effort to protect science education while he was on the faculty at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Although he has relocated to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, he remains an integral part of our effort.

In his article below (also downloadable in pdf), Dr. Binns has profiled the contribution to society of the 75 Nobel Laureates who support repeal of the Louisiana Science Education Act. (Our thanks also goes to Zack Kopplin, whose efforts produced this impressive source of support.)

Before reading Dr. Binns’s article, let’s first stop and think, readers, about the contributions that creationism has made to the world of science. Actually, you don’t have to stop and think . . .

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By Barbara Forrest

UPDATE 2.28.12: Please see here and here.

Most people who have read the 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act know that it seeks to undermine not just the teaching of evolution (although that is the primary target), but it also throws in “global warming” as something that teachers should allow students to “critically analyze” (along with the “origins of life” and “human cloning”). And most of our readers also know that Louisiana is still the only state with such a stupid law. Throughout the effort of the Louisiana Coalition for Science (LCFS) to stop this bill as it sped through the legislature, the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) provided valuable advice and assistance. NCSE is a — no, it’s the — national clearinghouse for assistance in protecting the teaching of science. (Disclosure: I serve on NCSE’s Board of Directors — proudly). For more than a quarter-century, NCSE has come to the aid of parents, teachers, school administrators, and concerned citizens who needed help in fighting off creationist attacks on the teaching of evolution. Now the NCSE has responded to the growing number of attacks on the teaching of climate science.

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By Barbara Forrest      

OK, readers, who knows what these two pictures have in common?

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By Barbara Forrest

The Baton Rouge Advocate has a great editorial today about Rep. Frank Hoffman’s HB 580, about which the LCFS sent out a press release [pdf] and a detailed analysis [pdf] on June 13. (See LCFS post, June 10, 2011.) The Advocate has it right: this bill does an end run around the established textbook review and adoption process that the Louisiana Family Forum has been trying unsuccessfully to thwart since 2002.

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The Louisiana Coalition for Science is pleased to post (in alphabetic order) the following statements and letters of support [pdf] for the repeal of the creationist Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008.

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (added on May 6, 2011)
• American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)
• American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
• American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
• Clergy Letter Project (added on May 7, 2011)
• Louisiana Association of Biology Educators (LABE)
• Louisiana Science Teachers Association (LSTA)
• National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)
• Paul Gross and Lawrence Lerner statements
• Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), cosigned by Society of Systematic Biologists and American Society of Naturalists

Along with Zack Kopplin, we thank all of these organizations and individuals for their support of the repeal effort. Should we receive additional letters and statements, we will update this post.

For readers who were not able to attend the rally at the Capitol today, Zack has posted his  YouTube video.

WAFB also ran a video news segment about the rally. Earlier in the day, Zack was interviewed on the Jim Engster Show on WRKF. Darrell White of the Louisiana Family Forum was included in this interview.

In addition to Zack, who delivered an address to attendees, Dr. Ian Binns spoke on behalf of the Louisiana Coalition for Science. Dr. Kevin Carman, Dean of the College of Science at Louisiana State University, also offered remarks. The Louisiana Coalition for Science thanks both Dr. Binns and Dr. Carman for participating.

Most of all, we thank Zack Kopplin for taking on the task of seeking repeal of the stealth creationist law that should never have been passed. The Louisiana legislature should care enough about what the rest of our fellow Americans think of our state by getting it off the books. But most of all, they should care enough about the education of young people like Zack, who has done what every responsible adult in Louisiana should be doing.

Thank you, Zack.

By Barbara Forrest

On Thursday, April 28, Zack Kopplin will hold a rally at the Capitol in Baton Rouge in support of SB 70, a bill sponsored by Senator Karen Carter Peterson (thank you Senator Peterson!) to repeal the creationist Louisiana Science Education Act, which was passed in 2008. Zack has a Facebook page with information about the rally, and he has information about the repeal effort at Repealcreationism.com. On April 22, Zack was interviewed by WBRZ in Baton Rouge. This young man is doing what every responsible adult in the state of Louisiana should be doing — petitioning the legislature to correct the mistake they made in 2008 by letting themselves be cowed by the threat of political hardball by the Louisiana Family Forum.

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The following letter has been sent to the Louisiana legislature and to Gov. Bobby Jindal. (Reproduced from Repealcreationism.com, posted by Zack Kopplin, April 21, 2011)

42 Nobel Laureates Call for a Repeal of the LSEA

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / Louisiana Coalition for Science  / http://lasciencecoalition.org

Download press release [pdf]

Louisiana Coalition for Science Supports SB 70 to Repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act

Baton Rouge, LA, April 18, 2011 — In solidarity with Baton Rouge Magnet High School senior Zachary Kopplin’s effort to repeal the 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act (www.repealcreationism.com), the Louisiana Coalition for Science supports Senator Karen Carter Peterson’s bill, SB 70, which will repeal the law in its entirety. In the interest of Louisiana public school students, the legislature should pass the bill and Gov. Jindal should sign it. (See http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/byinst.asp?sessionid=11RS&billid=SB70&doctype=ALL.)

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Donald Aguillard with Susan Epperson (photo by Eugenie Scott)

By Barbara Forrest

One of the hallmarks of good citizenship is stepping up to correct a wrong against children. Louisiana has such a citizen in the person of Dr. Donald W. Aguillard, who was the lead plaintiff in Aguillard v. Louisiana, the case that eventually produced the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987). In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the teaching of creationism in public school science classes is unconstitutional. Louisiana parents, students, and science teachers owe him a debt of gratitude. Continue Reading »