reda NEED

=<div><div>EDUC</div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-industry-influence-school-2442333774.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-industry-influence-school-2442333774.html</a></div><div>
</div><div><div>Inspiration for these squadrons sprang from a 1946 study surveying 10,000 Americans, according to the 1990 API history. The document's author wrote that, "the more people knew about the petroleum industry, the more favorable were their feelings towards it." To combat the industry's negative reputation, the study suggested "a well-directed program of public education was the right medicine to bring about a cure."<a href="http://www.hkstrategies.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Hill & Knowlton</a>—the public-relations firm that would later <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1994-09-18/magazine/tm-40179_1_tobacco-industry" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">help the tobacco industry</a> fend off cancer claims—was brought on to strategize. The firm surmised that the "petroleum industry's legislative difficulties could be traced to misunderstandings by government and the public" and laid out a plan to cultivate '"thought leaders' or 'opinion molders'—educators, editors, columnists, the clergy, business and financial leaders and, of course, key people in government," according to the 1990 document.In 1960, educators helped revamp API materials that eventually made their way into 25,000 secondary schools. Advertisers were hired to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3480569-3865-001.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">ghost-write scripts</a> hyping oil for popular children's programs like Art Linkletter's "House Party." The widely televised <a href="http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php/2011_02147" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Odyssey: A Quest for Energy</a> was among dozens of educational videos made available through API's vast regional network.The 1982 film examined renewable energy, but made the best case for fossil fuels—urging that offshore drilling be expanded "into deeper waters" and that federal lands be opened for coal mining in promotional brochures sent to some 14,000 schools. Within months, more than 1,300 schools wanted to screen Odyssey. Indiana officials ordered enough kits to show the film to every high-schooler in the state. API's public relations team <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3480584-3851-001.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">meticulously tracked "Odyssey's" reach</a>, estimating that at least five million Americans saw the film.API did not respond to requests for comment.API's message was amplified with the help of an unlikely ally—the <a href="https://www.nsta.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">National Science Teachers Association</a>, which boasts some 55,000 members of mostly K-12 educators. The association worked closely with API and utility executives during the 1970s to develop <a href="http://energyeducationreferences.pbworks.com/w/page/33459812/NSTA%20PEEC" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">K-12 energy curricula</a>. When federal funding dried up in the 1980s, the association turned to corporate sponsors to cover costs.As pressure to act on global warming mounted during the 1990s, API ramped up its strategy to quiet critics, including leveraging its relationship with the teachers association. Months after the language of a global climate treaty known as the <a href="http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Kyoto Protocol</a> was finalized in 1997, an internal <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070715153809/http:/www.edf.org/documents/3860_GlobalClimateSciencePlanMemo.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">memo</a> obtained by The New York Times laid out API's plans to infuse doubt about climate change into K-12 materials. Less than a decade later, the association <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/science-teachers-organization-refuses-to-accept-copies-of-inconvenient-truth-b1d5926c104" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">garnered criticism</a> for distributing API's "Fuel-less" film to teachers while API funded the association's educational website for kids.Some of API's largest corporate members, including Chevron and Shell, remain top sponsors of the teachers association. Evans, who has led the association since 2013, said he was unable to comment on the organization's past, but defended the group's independence today: "It's NSTA that decides what the content should be."'Win-win'With only 14 seniors, the class of 2016 came nowhere near filling a gymnasium in Salineville, Ohio—a town of 1,300 about 50 miles west of Pittsburgh. "In this region, there are phenomenal opportunities," said Rhonda Reda, delivering the keynote speech at the <a href="http://www.uticashaleschool.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Utica Shale Academy</a> graduation. "Go out there and make a difference."Named after the <a href="http://marcelluscoalition.org/pa-map/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">rock formation</a> that stretches from eastern Ohio to Canada, the tuition-free charter school founded in 2014 promises "real opportunity" outside of "traditional settings." Instead of hitting textbooks, students work on drilling certifications and intern for oil companies. Attendance is flexible: students must spend more than half their time on campus—an increase from a previous requirement of at least 15 hours weekly.The academy rents space from two high schools. A third location for K-12 students was shuttered last June after just a year in operation. The academy's website prominently displays the logos of corporate partners like <a href="http://www.chk.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Chesapeake Energy</a>, whose executives meet with school administrators to help carve out the curriculum for the year.One of the academy's most prominent sponsors, the <a href="http://oogeep.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program</a>—led by Reda—has stirred up criticism for its pro-drilling message. Like the Oklahoma energy resources board, the Ohio group is industry-funded, state-sanctioned and conducts free teacher workshops. In a meeting with state legislators in 2016, Reda said that 2,700 teachers statewide had attended the workshops since 1997.Lisa Hoyos of <a href="http://www.climateparents.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Climate Parents</a>, an affiliate of the <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Sierra Club</a> that successfully <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/8/radio-disney-s-partnershipwithgasindustryinohiohassomereeling.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">petitioned Radio Disney to sever ties</a> with Reda's group in 2014, criticized educational content that pushes petroleum's benefits but sidesteps its downsides. "They're basically indoctrinating children," she said of the Ohio program. "All the materials [the program is] putting out are about oil and gas, which are the chief culprits, along with coal, in causing climate change."Before founding the Ohio program in 1997, Reda handled public affairs for the state's Oil and Gas Association. She sits on the communications committee for the <a href="http://www.ipaa.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Independent Petroleum Association of America</a>, which created <a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Energy in Depth</a>—a website run by a <a href="http://www.fticonsulting.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">public-relations firm</a> that aggressively disputes industry criticism and news media reports, including <a href="http://energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/EID-Eppy-Letter-with-Emails.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">investigative work</a> done by the Center for Public Integrity. Reda's program <a href="http://www.ipaa.org/2011/09/30/energy-in-depth-ohio-officially-launched/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">helped launch</a> Energy in Depth's <a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/ohio/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Ohio section</a> in 2011.Reda declined to elaborate on her relationship with lobby groups, but wrote in an email that her organization "does not utilize any taxpayer dollars" and "does not lobby the legislature or take positions on regulatory or public policy." She added that her program "may elect on occasion to collaborate with other oil and gas groups, educational institutions and other experts on specific projects."Reda's group has helped develop lessons for the <a href="http://www.need.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">National Energy Education Development Project</a>, or NEED, a nonprofit that publishes thousands of pages of K-12 energy lessons online. A <a href="http://www.need.org/files/curriculum/guides/ExploringOilandGas.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">2015 NEED lesson</a> teaches students how to 'frack' a frozen layer cake using chocolate syrup and a syringe-like turkey injector—not unlike Ohio's demonstration using Twinkies.Oil and gas companies are among NEED's most prominent backers. <a href="http://www.conocophillips.com/Pages/default.aspx" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">ConocoPhillips</a> has sponsored <a href="http://www.need.org/phillips66" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">NEED workshops</a> since 2008, exposing educators nationwide to packets like "<a href="http://www.need.org/files/curriculum/guides/OilGasandTheirEnergy.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Oil, Gas and their Energy</a>" and "<a href="http://www.need.org/files/curriculum/guides/ExploringOilandGas.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Exploring Oil and Gas</a>." A 2014 NEED guide tells of Sue Ann, who is a sticky pool of oil waiting to be freed, and Stacey, who wants to follow in her father's footsteps and become a blowout specialist on an offshore rig.Executive Director Mary Spruill said NEED teams up with industry groups to train future workers, but the groups don't play a substantial role in developing content. "We don't send drafts to our partners," she said.Like Reda, Spruill does not have an education or science background. Lessons from both their groups have been adapted by the "<a href="http://www.arkansasenergyrocks.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Arkansas Energy Rocks!</a>" website dedicated to teaching kids about the "thriving oil and natural gas industry." Lessons include, "<a href="http://www.arkansasenergyrocks.com/educators/lessonplans9-12/Rusert-Just-a-Little-Oil-Spill-Lesson-Plan.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Just a little oil spill</a>," which uses drops of vegetable oil in a pie plate filled with water to simulate an offshore oil spill, and "<a href="http://www.arkansasenergyrocks.com/educators/lessonplans9-12/Goodin-Persuasion-Power-Lesson-Plan.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Persuasion POWER!</a>" which highlights the legislative process with a congressional press release titled, "<a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/news-center/press-releases/consumers-desperate-new-natural-gas-pipelines" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Consumers desperate for new natural gas pipelines</a>." It's unclear how many schools are using the materials.The website is a project of the <a href="http://aipro.org/education/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Arkansas Energy Education Foundation</a>, a nonprofit arm of the <a href="http://aipro.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Arkansas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners</a>. The program's <a href="https://trademarks.justia.com/863/04/arkansas-energy-86304873.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">logo</a> and website are registered to the American Petroleum Institute. Listed as a contact for an <a href="http://www.har.com/arkansas-energy-rocks-annual-teacher-energy-education-workshop/event_E0-001-082460546-2" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">all-expenses-paid teachers' workshop</a> in 2015 promoting "Arkansas Energy Rocks!" was the personal email address of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/paige-miller-apr-46713224/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Paige Miller</a>, an API public-affairs specialist based in Little Rock.Spruill works closely with the Independent Petroleum Association of America, sitting on an advisory board for the lobby group's five "<a href="http://ipaa.org/education/academies/index.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Petroleum Academies</a>." IPAA, whose chief executive and lobbyist, <a href="http://www.ipaa.org/about/board-of-directors/barry-russell/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Barry Russell</a>, is co-chair of the advisory board, has billed the academies as a "<a href="http://ipaa.org/education/pdf/ipaa_edcenterbrochure.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">win-win</a>" for high schoolers and oil companies in Houston and Fort Worth.Students are encouraged to put themselves in industry leaders' shoes by <a href="https://vimeo.com/117528427" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">competing</a> for lucrative leasing deals as fictional oil companies and delivering oral presentations on topics like "clearing misconceptions of the oil and gas industry."Despite the hard sell, some students are unsure of their <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/economy/article/Houston-s-schools-adjust-to-an-oil-bust-after-8350400.php" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">prospects in the petroleum industry</a>. The ongoing oil-price slump has made jobs in the industry scarce and advancements in automation are expected to accelerate the trend.Even in a state built on fossil fuels, other career options have grown more appealing. Having interviewed administrators at the academies, the Houston Chronicle reported last year that "students were gravitating more toward climate-friendly subjects like algae-based biofuel and super-efficient tiny houses."</div><div></div></div></div><div>===</div>