Two Democrats in the Michigan State House have introduced a bill that would mandate environmental activism into the curriculum of driving school. Of course, this would only affect Michigan, but nonetheless, this could spread to other states, and even to other countries.
The bill suggests that students would learn about “the importance of carpooling and using public transportation,” as well as “identifying the attributes of a fuel-efficient vehicle,” and “recycling vehicle parts and fluids”. Only problem is, what the hell does that have to do with safely getting a tonne and a half of metal from Point A to Point B? They claim that “giving them this type of information will help them to make better decisions.”
The Detroit News has found a number of problems with this though, and so have I.
Firstly, while the state oversees the curriculum, state officials have no place in mandating exactly what should be taught, especially since this has nothing to do with any actual driving laws. Additionally, parents have to pay out of their own pockets for this, so they shouldn’t have to pay for getting taught someone else’s religion, and though it isn’t officially, environmental activism is technically a religion, a worshiping of Mother Nature. Not everyone believes that global warming is man made, or that it exists at all.
Then there’s also the fact that students usually don’t have the resources to shop around for a car with “the attributes of a fuel-efficient vehicle.” They just want a car. Oh, and when their main goal right now is to get behind the wheel of a car, they aren’t going to pay much attention to someone telling them to use public transportation.
If they want people to learn about environmental issues, teens surely don’t lack resources. Things about global warming and such are taught all the time at school, it’s often discussed among friends, and the internet does its part too. So this bill doesn’t really make much sense, and I hope I never hear of it again.
Source: The Detroit News via Jalopnik | Picture credit: DoctorWho / CC BY-ND 2.0