Vancouver teens protest industry-funded Energy IQ educational materials

A pair of Vancouver high school students have written an open letter to Canadian Geographic in protest of the magazine delivering educational materials funded by oil and gas producers to classrooms. The letter, which has since been signed by more than 600 people, likens the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers-sponsored Energy IQ program to propaganda and requests that the materials not be used by teachers. “Schools are public places, and therefore should be free of advertisements or promotions of companies, interest groups, and other for-profit institutions,” reads the letter, written by Sydney Emo and Sophie Yamauchi, students at Windermere Secondary School. “Propaganda has no place in our schools,” it continues. “The content of your program appears to be highly focused on the oil and gas industry, yet it is presented as something that deals with all possible types of energy.”