[greenyes] NEPA viewpoint on the fiction of the Canyon posing as science

["Toni Stein" <tweil@no.address>]

Maybe we should look to NEPA and consider if this "project" (the NPS's act of
placing this book on the shelf in this location) "may" have an environmental
impact.
For those of you who have not seen the cover of Vail's Grand Canyon book, you
may want to look at it.  The title of the book is according to its cover
primarily: "Grand Canyon"  --only the very fine print say  "A different view".
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890513732/002-4529067-4476054?v=g
lance

What's important and not talked about is what Section this book is being shelved
in the Park's gift shop-- fiction or non-fiction.  I think this detail matters.
The book may present an interesting viewpoint that we should of course be
tolerent of, but when the lines of fact and fiction get blurred, there is great
hazard of it blurring our greatest debates such as the debate over global
warming.   A similar religious debate has suspended our Country from taking
action against industry to limit their green house gas emissions and created a
cozy link between industry to the faith based lobbys.

I think someone could easily argue that there is a fair argument and substantial
evidence that with the numbers of people that go through that shop per year
there "may" be a cumulative impact on the National Park Service's discretionary
action to sell this book alongside the scientific books.

If this book is being shelved under religion, or myth, or fiction, there may not
be any disputes other than why is the Park Service providing educational
services on religion. I strongly oppose this book sitting on a shelf in the
history or geology section of our National Park Services gift shop.  Being a
scientist that works hard to influence the mind of the public and policy makers
on a basis of science I have to agree with the geologists position that this
goes way too far and undercuts the National Park Services scientific education
program policies.


Antoinette "Toni" Stein, PhD
800 Magnolia Street
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Telephone:  650-853-0314
cell:              650-823-7662
tweil@no.address


----- Original Message -----
From: "DONNAWAY Jay" <Donnaway.Jay@no.address>
To: <greenyes@no.address>
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2004 9:16 AM
Subject: [greenyes] RE: PEER Press Release



Since when does stocking the gift shop shelves with a particular product
amount to Federal advocacy?  If it does, I would expect the
environmental community to be more concerned about toxic toy
pterodactyls pumped full of plasticizers than the offering of a single
book that by it's very title, professes to offer an alternative view.
What's next, oh defenders of Liberty, book burning in the name of green
energy?

Jay Donnaway

------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 16:54:10 -0500
To: "GreenYes" <greenyes@no.address>
From: "Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>
Subject: Administration's Science Position
Message-ID: <007101c4ba14$52a761b0$6bcfaf42@no.address>

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Press Release

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337

PARK SERVICE STICKS WITH BIBLICAL EXPLANATION FOR GRAND CANYON Promised
Legal Review on Creationist Book Is Shelved

Washington, DC - The Bush Administration has decided that it will stand
by
its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's
flood rather than by geologic forces, according to internal documents
released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
(PEER).

Despite telling members of Congress and the public that the legality and

appropriateness of the National Park Service offering a creationist book
for
sale at Grand Canyon museums and bookstores was "under review at the
national level by several offices," no such review took place, according
to
materials obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act.
Instead,
the real agency position was expressed by NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy
as
quoted in the Baptist Press News:

  "Now that the book has become quite popular, we don't want to remove
it."

In August of 2003, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Joe Alston
attempted to block the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View, by Tom
Vail,
a book explaining how the park's central feature developed on a biblical

rather than an evolutionary time scale. NPS Headquarters, however,
intervened and overruled Alston. To quiet the resulting furor, NPS Chief
of
Communications David Barna told reporters that there would be a
high-level
policy review, distributing talking points stating: "We hope to have a
final
decision in February [2004]." In fact, the promised review never
occurred -

  a.. In late February, Barna crafted a draft letter to concerned
members of
Congress stating: "We hope to have a final decision on the book in March

2004." That draft was rewritten in June and finally sent out to
Congressional representatives with no completion date for the review at
all;
  b.. NPS Headquarters did not respond to a January 25th memo from its
own
top geologists charging that sale of the book violated agency policies
and
undercut its scientific education programs;
  c.. The Park Service ignored a letter of protest signed by the
presidents
of seven scientific societies on December 16, 2003.
"Promoting creationism in our national parks is just as wrong as
promoting
it in our public schools," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, "If
the
Bush Administration is using public resources for pandering to Christian

fundamentalists, it should at least have the decency to tell the truth
about
it."

The creationist book is not the only religious controversy at Grand
Canyon
National Park. One week prior to the approved sale of Grand Canyon: A
Different View, NPS Deputy Director Donald Murphy ordered that bronze
plaques bearing Psalm verses be returned and reinstalled at canyon
overlooks. Superintendent Alston had removed the bronze plaques on legal

advice from Interior Department solicitors. Murphy also wrote a letter
of
apology to the plaques' sponsors, the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary.
PEER
has collected other instances of what it calls the Bush Administration's

"Faith-Based Parks" agenda.

_________________________
Peter Anderson, President
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705-4964
Ph: (608) 231-1100
Fax: (608) 233-0011
Cell: (608) 698-1314
eMail: anderson@no.address
web: www.recycleworlds.net