On the Lookout for Attempts to Indoctrinate Our Schoolchildren? Try the American Coal Industry!

By Amanda Terkel, ThinkProgress
Posted on November 6, 2009, Printed on May 26, 2012
http://www.alternet.org/story/143785/on_the_lookout_for_attempts_to_indoctrinate_our_schoolchildren_try_the_american_coal_industry%21

Friends of Coal (FOC) is a front group created by the West Virginia Coal Association. Its mission is to “inform and educate West Virginia citizens about the coal industry” and “provide a united voice” for the industry. To make dirty coal seem appealing, FOC has sponsored or initiated license plates, football games, basketball practices, plane jumps, fishing events, and scholarships.

FOC is now selling coal to children. ThinkProgress obtained the “Let’s Learn About Coal” coloring book, which asks children to unscramble statements about the “advantages” of coal, such as “Than coal other cheaper is fuels” (”Coal is cheaper than other fuels”). Kids also learn that coal is “important” and “provides jobs for lots of people!”:

The FOC Ladies Auxiliary has been handing the coloring book out to children around West Virginia as part of a “Coal in the Classroom” campaign.

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.

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View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/143785/