Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/textfile/envfacts.zip/GREENEDU.TXT

Text File | 1993-05-17 | 28KB | 617 lines

                     The Greening of America's Youth
                          By Jonathan H. Adler

[Mr.  Adler  is  an  environmental policy  analyst  at  the  Competitive
Enterprise Institute in Washington.]

[From The Wall Street Journal [Eastern Edition], 1993 Apr 14, p. A14:3.]

On  Friday  [16  April], children from around the  world  will  meet  in
Orlando,  Fla.,  for  the  first annual Kids World  Council,  a  meeting
designed  to  promote children's involvement in environmental  politics.
Nickelodeon,  a  cable channel aimed at children, has run  a  series  of
advertisements  entitled  "Plant It for  the  Planet!"  to  promote  the
council,   which   it   intends  to  cover.  One  of   the   Nickelodeon
advertisements talks about the dangers posed by aerosols,  refrigerators
and those "little white cups" made from polystyrene. All these products,
the  ad warns, contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and are therefore  bad
for the environment.

There   is   only  one  problem.  Like  so  much  of  the  environmental
"information" that is being directed at children these days, the  ad  is
wrong.

In  fact, those little white cups have been manufactured without the use
of CFCs for more than three years. Aerosol cans, pictured in the ad with
a skull and crossbones, have not contained CFCs since 1978. That is when
the  use  of  CFCs  in  aerosols was banned by  Congress.  Nickelodeon's
attempt  to  raise  environmental consciousness  is  actually  promoting
environmental ignorance.

Nickelodeon  is not the only one. The error about CFCs in  aerosol  cans
can be found nearly everywhere one looks. It is contained in the Teenage
Mutant  Ninja Turtles' children's book "ABC's for a Better  Planet,"  as
well  as  the popular cartoon television series "G.I. Joe." The  fallacy
hit  prime  time this year when it was spouted by a character  on  CBS's
award-winning series "Northern Exposure."

Indeed,  if  one examines any sampling of green materials for  children,
one  finds that they are filled with similar errors, or half-truths. The
March  29 issue of Newsweek included a "Just for Kids" pull-out  section
titled "Saving the Earth." In listing the "10 Biggest Challenges" facing
the  planet,  the  supplement revives scares of  declining  agricultural
production and resource depletion.

The  Newsweek supplement ignores the fact that non-U.S. grain production
has  been  outpacing  population increases for the last  three  decades.
Moreover,  the  prospect  of  running out of important  resources,  from
precious minerals to oil, is no longer imminent. Proven oil reserves are
greater  than  at any point in history. Should these reserves  begin  to
dwindle,   oil   prices  will  again  increase,  restoring   the   price
competitiveness  of other energy sources. Despite what Newsweek  claims,
there is little prospect of running out.

If  that  were  not bad enough, the pullout includes an  "Ask  Al  Gore"
section  where kids ask the vice president about environmental problems.
One  child  asks if ozone depletion will turn the earth into  a  desert.
Rather than clarify this child's misunderstanding of the risks posed  by
ozone  depletion and point out that, even if the direst predictions  are
true,  it  will  mean an ultraviolet-B radiation increase equivalent  to
moving  from  Washington to Richmond, Va. (100 miles  south),  Mr.  Gore
merely  reiterates  the need to act now to save the  ozone  layer.  When
asked,  "What are we going to do about burning fossil fuels?"  Mr.  Gore
responds  by saying "fossil fuels, such as oil" need to be displaced  by
"alternative fuels, like clean-burning natural gas." Yet natural gas  is
a fossil fuel, too.

The  Environmental Protection Agency has also gotten into the  act.  The
EPA  produces  "a  student's first sourcebook"  on  acid  rain  that  is
anything  but  fair-minded.  It completely  ignores,  for  example,  the
conclusions of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program  --  a
half-billion-dollar,  10-year  government  study  --  which  found  that
significant  environmental damage cannot be  attributed  to  acid  rain.
EPA's   list  of  environmental  materials  for  classroom   use   lists
publications  from  every imaginable activist group,  ranging  form  the
Environmental Action Coalition to Zero Population Growth.

Thirty states have formal programs of environmental education, and  more
are  on the way. But they won't do much to improve the situation  --  if
the  "proposed plan of action" developed by the New Jersey Environmental
Education  Commission  offers  any indication.  One  of  this  program's
mandates is to "develop" the "values" needed to protect the environment.
What  are  these values? Well, they include the fact that "environmental
issues have a moral and spiritual dimension" and that the "diversity  of
culture" should be considered in environmental policies. Does this sound
like education, or indoctrination?

Too  often environmental education merely proselytizes and promotes  pet
causes.  Newsweek  tells children to buy rain-forest  nuts  and  not  to
purchase  products in plastic bottles. The Teenage Mutant Ninja  Turtles
tell  children  to "write to your government leaders at every  level  --
city,  county,  state,  and federal." A "Save  the  Earth  Action  Pack"
distributed  by the Turner Broadcasting System even tells  children  "to
increase  the  amount  of  time and money" they  give  to  environmental
organizations  and  to urge "governments to support the  work  of  these
organizations." Were this done with any other political matter,  parents
would be up in arms -- and rightly so.

Clearly,  environmental lobbyists have decided that one way of advancing
their  political objectives is to reach the hearts and minds of children
who will not only pester their parents but will themselves grow up to be
activists and voters. Other would-be instructors of children are  merely
trying to act "responsibly," apparently without understanding that there
may  be more than one answer to any environmental question and that  the
"green"  version  of things can be extremely simplistic and  misleading.
Unfortunately, the creators of environmental books and toys rarely  know
much about the subject that they are promoting.

Environmental education would do better simply teaching about scientific
matters,  including hydrology, ecosystems and the weather.  As  children
get  older, the pros and cons of various environmental policies  can  be
discussed  in  a fair and balanced manner. Right now, the  environmental
science pushed to children is more political than factual.

[From Letters, The Wall Street Journal [Eastern Edition], 1993 May 7, p.
                                 A15:1.]

Jonathan  H.  Adler's April 14 editorial page article "The  Greening  of
America's  Youth"  illuminates how children are being  indoctrinated  by
environmental  activists and their fellow travelers  in  the  media  and
government regulatory agencies. While he exposes many of the tendentious
"facts"  parroted  in environmental pamphlets and programs  directed  at
children, I feel obliged to point out a small factual error made by  Mr.
Adler that bears on our industry.

Those  "little  white  cups" made of polystyrene foam  have  never  been
manufactured  with  CFCs.  Mr.  Adler  has  confused  our  product  with
polystyrene  sandwich  boxes  (e.g. the erstwhile  McDonald's  hamburger
cartons),  which  had been manufactured with CFCs prior  to  1989.  That
confusion has bedeviled our industry ever since it became fashionable to
demonize  "styrofoam" products. I wish Mr. Adler luck in his efforts  to
enlighten the public about the disinformation campaign being directed at
their  children.  But  he  will need more  than  mere  facts  to  battle
environmental  true-believers.  I  have  found  that  confronting  these
zealots  with  facts that contravene their assertions is a  little  like
cutting  off the Hydra's head; they drop the first argument in favor  of
other equally ill-supported claims.

I  have  participated in a number of hearings to fight various  proposed
bans  on  polystyrene foam cups. It amazes me to watch the metamorphosis
of  the  line  of  attack taken by the ban advocates.  When  polystyrene
opponents  realized that the CFC issue was no longer  a  potent  weapon,
they moved to debate to biodegradability. But a definitive study of  the
nation's  landfills, conducted by [William Rathje of] the University  of
Arizona,  proves  that  all the fulminations regarding  biodegradability
lead down a blind alley. In a landfill environment, even such apparently
biodegradable  materials as newspapers, food and  yard  waste  will  not
bread  down  readily, absent air, sunlight and water.  The  study  found
further that polystyrene food packaging comprised only one quarter of 1%
[by  weight] of a typical landfill. By contrast, newspapers are glutting
our  landfills (comprising up to 18% in some communities). Where is  the
hue  and  cry  to ban newspapers? There is none, of course, because  the
environmental  propagandists  prefer  symbolic  victory  to  substantive
debate. What better symbol of wasteful American consumerism than a  one-
use disposable cup.

The problem is that banning the product does not eliminate the need that
the product filled. Paper cups have inevitably become the replacement of
choice.  At  least  they are made from a renewable resource,  argue  the
environmentalists, while polystyrene foam cups are made of non-renewable
petroleum  products.  Laying  aside the  issue  of  deforestation,  this
argument  too, is unsupportable. Polystyrene production does not  result
in  a  net increase in petroleum consumption. The precursors to styrenes
are  made as a byproduct of other refining processes and in former times
these byproducts had to be flared or otherwise disposed of. Furthermore,
two recent independent studies comparing the manufacturing processes  of
paper  cups  versus foam cups reveal that paper cup production  consumes
more  energy  and  releases many multiples more air and water  emissions
than does polystyrene foam cup production.

Does this avalanche of data faze the ban-at-all-costs environmentalists?
Of  course  not. They have shifted the debate once more by raising  that
all-purpose specter: cancer risk. Never mind that OSHA and EPA,  relying
on  exhaustive  research, have refused to classify  styrene  as  even  a
possible  carcinogen. Never mind that in a cup of coffee there are  more
naturally  occurring  styrenes  in the java  itself  than  can  possibly
migrate from the foam cup to the beverage.

Mr. Adler has chosen for himself a truly Sisyphean task if he hopes that
cogent  analysis and scientific evidence can persuade the  environmental
propagandists  to temper their indoctrination of our children.  We  know
form hard experience that once a product or industry has been put on the
environmental  hit  list,  it  is  nearly  impossible  to  disabuse  the
environmentalist of his antipathy.
                                                     William Biggins Jr.
                                                               President
                                                    Foam Container Corp.
Lenexa, Kan.

                              *     *     *

My  five-year-old daughter is being bombarded with the  kinds  of  half-
truths  and outright lies Mr. Adler cites. Clearly, Nickelodeon  is  the
biggest  offender, with the Disney Channel running a close  second.  The
barrage of environmentalist propaganda, much of it in the form of public
service  announcements (PSAs) produced by environmental advocacy groups,
is  so pervasive on Nickelodeon that that channel is now completely off-
limits  to my daughter. Consistent with Mr. Adler's contention that  our
children are being consciously targeted with this propaganda, no one who
watches  Nick at Night, Nickelodeon's adult-oriented programming,  would
get  any  indication that this propagandizing goes on. The PSAs and  the
messages about global warming and recycling suddenly disappear once  the
evening programming begins.

I  encourage all parents who are concerned about what their children are
seeing  on  television to question the validity of  the  messages  being
conveyed  about the environment. Most of the information is  not  coming
from  scientific  journals  and legitimate research,  but  from  special
interest  groups whose level of financial contributions depends  on  the
perception [sic] that an environmental crisis exists.
                                                          Roy E. Cordato
Gaithersburg, Md.

[Mr  Cordato  is  correct in his observation that the  green  propaganda
vanishes once the evening starts. -- O.P.]

                              *     *     *

It's  also  revealing to look at why environmentalists are typically  so
successful at winning children over to their ideas.

Part of the reason, of course, is that few alternative voices exist  for
children  to  hear.  Most  of the industrial world  feels  contempt  for
industry  as  such,  and  has  come  to  accept  as  gospel  almost  any
environmentalist claim. Journalists often uncritically accept hypotheses
of  politically  biased scientists who are living on government  grants;
teachers and parents in turn often uncritically accept the hype  of  the
media;  and  children,  who rely on adults to  teach  them  the  art  of
critical  thinking, are often left defenseless in the  face  of  alleged
"facts" and "environmental emergencies." When adults feed children these
daily  doses of poisonous falsehoods (such as the idea that CFCs,  which
are  heavier  than  air, rise to and destroy the ozone layer),  children
have  little  recourse  to find an antidote or  to  even  know  that  an
antidote is needed.

But  children  are  highly  susceptible to  environmentalist  ideas  for
another  reason: Children, like environmentalists, typically don't  hold
production in much esteem. Rational adults know that to live  they  must
produce -- that is, they know that they must refashion their environment
to  meet  their needs. Children often don't fully grasp this  connection
because parents (properly) see to it that their needs are met for  them.
As  a result, children often don't recognize how much of a sacrifice  it
is to close a factory for the sake of a snail darter.

Given  environmentalists' low esteem of human life, it's not  surprising
that  they feel no qualms about filling children's minds with falsehoods
and  playing  them like pawns in a political game those  children  don't
understand.
                                                           Erik Laughlin
Chicago

                              *     *     *

Environmental  activists  cloak themselves with  moral  superiority  and
therefore  excuse  small  lapses  of  fact  for  the  greater  good   of
inculcating  the laudable value of spiritual connection  between  humans
and  the environment. They should be scolded for blatantly abusing their
power  as  adults  over children. The adult-child  relationship  is  the
definition  of  a power relationship. Children have almost  no  defenses
against massive distortions perpetuated against them by powerful adults.
Misleading  children with made-up facts and imposing simplistic  answers
break trust, destroy respect and backfire.
                                                  Laura Childs Martisius
Denver

             [The following is not part of the items above.]

                             On Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon is part of MTV Networks. MTV Networks are composed  of  MTV,
MTV  Europe,  Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, VH-1, and fifty-percent  of  CTV
(The Comedy Network).

MTV Networks is, in turn, a part of Viacom Networks. Viacom Networks are
composed  of All News Channel, Lifetime (33.3%), MTV Networks,  Showtime
Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. are composed of Flix, The Movie Channel, SET  Pay
Per View, and Showtime.

All  of  these Networks are subsidiaries of Viacom Inc. (New York,  NY),
which  also  owns  5 network affiliated TV stations, 14 radio  stations,
Viacom Pictures, Viacom Entertainment, and Viacom Cable.

Sumner  M. Redstone, born in Boston on 27 May 1923, owns 75% of MTV  and
its  parent,  Viacom International, which he acquired in a takeover.  He
also  owns Nickelodoeon. Mr Redstone, a lawyer, is the foremost purveyor
of  popular culture to TV viewers aged 2 to 24, not only in America, but
in  every continent in the world except Antarctica. MTV is seen not only
in  the  United  States, but (in local versions) in  Europe,  Australia,
Latin  America, Russia, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan;  all
told,  210 million viewers in 71 countries. Nickelodeon will follow  MTV
into these markets.

Geraldine   Laybourne  is  President  of  the  Nickelodeon   subsidiary.
Nickelodeon,  created  in  1979,  now reaches  58.5  million  households
counting  2-  to 15-year-olds among its primary viewers. Total  revenues
from  Nickelodeon for 1992, according to one estimate, are $205 million,
which is 38.5% of MTV Networks' revenue of $533 million for that year.

                                  More

Hoover,  Gary;  Campbell,  Alta, and Spain, Patrick  J.,  Eds.  Hoover's
   Handbook  of  American  Business, 1993.  Austin,  TX:  The  Reference
   Press, 1992.
Lander,  Mark  and  Smith,  Geoffrey. "The MTV  Tycoon"  [Sumner  Murray
   Redstone, 1923-, Chairman of Viacom Inc.,]. Business Week,  1992  Sep
   21, pp. 56-62.
   "Nickelodeon  gets special attention from Redstone because  his  five
   grandchildren are loyal viewers."
Murray,  Kathleen. "Tuned In to Kids, She Takes Nickelodeon to the  Top"
   [Geraldine Laybourne, President of Nickelodeon]. The New York  Times,
   1993 Mar 14, Sec. 3, p. 8.


       Transcripts of Public-Disservice Spots Aired in April 1992
                     On Cable-TV Channel Nickelodeon

THESE  TRANSCRIPTS  WERE  TYPED  FROM RECORDINGS  AND  NOT  COPIED  FROM
ORIGINAL  SCRIPTS. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE  DIFFICULTY
IN  SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE COMPLETE ACCURACY
OF THESE TRANSCRIPTS CANNOT BE VOUCHED FOR.

SOPHISTICATED  USE OF IMAGES, CUTTING, AND MONTAGE ARE AN INTEGRAL  PART
OF THE FOLLOWING SHORT FILMS/VIDEOS. DUE TO THE DIFFICULTY OF PRESENTING
A  STORYBOARD  ON  A TEXT DEVICE, ONLY RUDIMENTARY DESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE
VIDEO PORTION HAVE BEEN INCLUDED.

NOTE: UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, THE TITLES ARE MY OWN.

                              *     *     *

THREE  PUBLIC-SERVICE  ADVERTISEMENTS ON THE  EARTH  SUMMIT  AND  GLOBAL
WARMING SELECTIVELY BROADCAST ON MTV/VH-1/NICKELODEON IN APRIL 1992


TITLE:            ``Earth Summit: R.E.M. on Global Warming''

TYPE:                   Informational.

LENGTH:           0:30

VIDEO:            ``R.E.M.''

VIDEO:      The  four  members  of the band. From the viewer's  left  to
            right:  One  member  standing, one  sitting,  the  next  two
            standing. The one sitting brings seems to bring up his  legs
            in  front  of him and place his bare feet on a rest  at  the
            height of his chest. (The feet belong to a person off-camera
            since  no human could contort his body to position his  feet
            in such a way.)

AUDIO:      (Sitting  member)  Here are two tools you can use  to  fight
            Global  Warming.   By walking instead of driving  two  miles
            each  day, you can eliminate seven hundred and thirty pounds
            of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

VIDEO:      (Montage)

AUDIO:      (Sitting member)  Plus, I think you save a few bucks.

AUDIO:      (Announcer) Do your part and wipe out a ton of cee-oh-two at
            home this year. Then, write the President.

AUDIO:      (Tell him to go to the Earth Summit ...
            (
VIDEO:      (The  following address is superposed over a picture of  the
            White House:
            (Mr  President / The White House / 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
            N.W. / (Washington, D.C.   20500

AUDIO:      (Announcer)  ...  and sign a treaty that  will  stop  Global
            Warming.

AUDIO:      (R.E.M. singing)  The world is collapsing ...

AUDIO:      (Sitting member)  Take the cee-oh-two challenge and stop the
            gas.

VIDEO:      Four  logos against a background of clouds: MTV (9 o'clock),
            Nick at Nite (12 o'clock), VH-1 (3 o'clock), Earth Summit (6
            o'clock)

                              *     *     *

TITLE:      ``Earth Summit: Environmentalist kids urge Bush''

TYPE:       Pseudo-documentary

LENGTH:     1:00

AUDIO:      (Girl's  voice)   In June of this year, in Rio  de  Janeiro,
            Brazil, there's going to be a major meeting of world leaders
            to  discuss  global warming and plan for  the  future.  Will
            President Bush be there?

            Hold on.

            Get ready.

            'Cause Nickelodeon presents ...

VIDEO:      "ZAP!"  [Description of sequence omitted.]

AUDIO:      (Girl's  voice)  President Bush hasn't decided  yet  whether
            he'll go to the Earth Summit. But kid environmentalists want
            him to go.

            [John Hegstrand, 13 years / Kids for Saving the Planet]: Our
            lack  of  interest  in the Earth Summit is unbelievable.  We
            feel  this is our last chance to         support the  earth,
            and our greatest chance to do it together.

            [Heidi Meudt, 17 years / Save the Rainforests]: He must  not
            only attend the Earth Summit, but make things happen there.

            [Candice Ray (a Negress), 12 years / The Natural Guard]: I'm
            not  trying to put pressure on him or anything, but I  think
            he should go because there are a lot of problems, but global
            warming is on the top of the list.

            [Laura  Kreitler,  12  years  / Project  Eco-School]:  Since
            America  is one of the leading nations right now,  its  very
            important for him to take a stand, because, hopefully,  then
            other nations will follow.

            [Alexis Grey, 7 years / Children Light the Way]: He  has  to
            start helping and then everybody will think its really  cool
            and they'll think its really popular.

V/O :       Mr President, we are counting on you.

                              *     *     *

TITLE:      ``Preserve Planet Earth''

TYPE:       Rap video.

LENGTH:     0:30

AUDIO:      All right
            Stop
            This crate (?) and wastin'.
            Planet earth isn't ours for the takin'.

            Look-it, there's a crack in the atmosphere.
            I send out a cry,
            But no one wants to hear.

            Listen to us
            We want to see the hungry fed
            It really matters
            So get your butt
            Out of bed.

            Stop,
            Our population's growing much too fast,
            'Cause it needs to be slowin'.

            Preserve the planet,
            Don't take it for granted.

            Why can't we leave it
            The way that we found it.

VIDEO:      "Preserve Planet Earth" sponsored by your local Rotary


     THREE PUBLIC SERVICE SPOTS BROADCAST ON NICKELODEON IN APRIL 1992

TITLE:      ``Lite-Brite''

TYPE:       Informational

LENGTH:     0:30

VIDEO:      "YOU" [Description of sequence omitted]

AUDIO:      Nickelodeon  knows that taking care of the earth  is  a  big
            job. But you can help ...

            just by being `Lite Brite'.

            When  the lights are on, energy from the earth is being used
            up.

            So  to  help the earth save its energy, hit the switch  when
            you're switching rooms.

            And, when you can, use daylight.

            It  doesn't  cost  anything, which will  make  your  parents
            happy.

            And it doesn't use energy, which will make the earth happy.

AUDIO:      For  more  ways you can help, keep watching the First  Kids'
            Network, Nickelodeon.

                              *     *     *
TITLE:      "Say no to bags"

TYPE:       Informational

LENGTH:     0:30

VIDEO:      "YOU" [Description of sequence omitted]

AUDIO:      Nickelodeon  knows that taking care of the earth  is  a  big
            job. But you can help ...

            just by saying `no' to bags.

            The  next  time that you're in a store and you buy something
            small, just say that you don't need a bag.

            Especially if it's something you can carry in your pocket or
            even your backpack.

            Because, why take a bag if you really don't need it?

            You won't waste the paper or make more garbage.

            For  more  ways you can help, keep watching the First  Kids'
            Network, Nickelodeon.

                              *     *     *
TITLE:      "Use your feet"

TYPE:       Informational

LENGTH:     0:30

VIDEO:      "YOU" [Description of sequence omitted]

AUDIO:      Nickelodeon  knows that taking care of the earth  is  a  big
            job.  But you can help ...

            just by using your feet.

            Whenever we use our feet to get us where we gotta go,  we're
            helping the earth.

            Because  the  cars  adults drive are  some  of  the  world's
            biggest polluters (cough, cough, cough).

            So  if  you know your parents aren't going far, get them  to
            use their feet.

            Like us.

            It may take a few lessons.

            But they'll catch on.

            For  more  ways you can help, keep watching the First  Kids'
            Network, Nickelodeon.

                              *     *     *

TITLE:      "Think small"

TYPE:       Informational

LENGTH:     0:30

VIDEO:      "YOU" [Description of sequence omitted]

AUDIO:      Nickelodeon  knows that taking care of the earth  is  a  big
            job. But you can help ...

            just by thinking small.

            Plastic rings keep soda six-packs together.

            But  did  you  know they can be harmful to  fish  and  small
            animals?

            'Cause  when  we're done with them, there's still  a  chance
            that they can get caught or tangled in them.

            But  you can prevent this just by snipping the rings  before
            you throw them out.

            Then, you'll be doing something big for the little guy.

            For  more  ways you can help, keep watching the First  Kids'
            Network, Nickelodeon.

                              *     *     *

TITLE:      "Save Paper"

TYPE:       Informational

LENGTH:     0:30

AUDIO:      Nickelodeon  knows that taking care of the earth  is  a  big
            job. But you can help ...

            as a paper saver.

            Wasting paper wastes trees and that wastes the earth.

            So at school try using both sides of your note-book paper.

            And save partially used paper for scrap.

            At home use a cup that can be washed rather than a paper cup
            you throw away.

            Because  why throw out a part of the earth when  you  really
            don't have to?

            For  more  ways you can help, keep watching the First  Kids'
            Network, Nickelodeon.