Sen. Doug Erickson
Posted on 05/24/2015 12:13:14 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
A Washington state senator has survived a campaign by Western Washington University students who demanded their school revoke his master’s degree because he’s not radical enough on global warming.
Doug Ericksen, a Republican and chair of Washington’s Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee, has blocked efforts to force businesses and residents to go green, but he supports voluntary compliance. He opposes mandated cap-and-trade programs and low-carbon fuel standards.
But the effort to yank Ericksen’s degree — he earned his MA in political science and environmental policy at WWU — met with a stiff rebuke last week from the university’s president.
“We appreciate the good work of Senator Doug Ericksen on behalf of Western Washington University,” said WWU President Bruce Shepard. “Senator Ericksen, a Western alumnus, has proven to be a friend to Western and a strong advocate … The strength of our democracy is that all citizens, including students and leaders like Senator Ericksen, have the freedom of expression to take positions with diverse viewpoints.”
Shepard dismissed “any notion that we might seek to penalize a graduate for the positions they express” as “a disturbing misunderstanding of the intellectual freedoms any university worthy of the name must stand for. And, protect.”
Ericksen’s critics could not be reached for comment and did not appear to have any formal name or structure. Their crusade was profiled in a local newspaper, the Bellingham Herald.
“Sen. Doug Ericksen is welcome to have whatever political views he wants, but by misinforming the public on the science of climate change, he is undermining the credibility of our own degrees and reflecting poorly on the caliber of education students receive here,” the students said in a statement to the Herald.
The students acknowledged they weren’t trying to change Ericksen’s mind on the issue.
“We’re framing it in a more radical way,” students said of the effort to revoke Ericksen’s degree. “We’re not just trying to have a conversation with him or hold him accountable. We’re trying to revoke his degree and get people to pay attention.”
The group called Ericksen a “climate denier” on a Facebook page that is now deleted,
In a podcast, Ericksen said he felt sorry for the students.
“They’re being fed such a line of propaganda, and it’s such a heavily partisan atmosphere,” he said. “They are Western students, so I guess they can do whatever they want. I’ve tended to ignore it. It’s not a serious issue. I think there’s three of them up there who have been advocating for this. It is what it is. You can respect their right to have their opinion.”
Ericksen has been targeted by environmentalists since 1998, when he first won a seat in the Washington House of Representatives. He was elected to the senate in 2011 and reelected last year. Steyer invested $1 million in the state races, with his primary goal of unseating Ericksen.
Sen. Doug Erickson
These Western Washington University students are disgraceful. I hope someone does the same to them someday.
Hopefully these poor fools are not science majors as they are clearly science deniers (as well as intolerant bullies).
That’s pretty sick. Thought police to the max. Someone should start a campaign to get them expelled.
I worked with Doug from 1999 to 2004 on the Cascade Foothills Corridor project. I admire him and enjoyed working with him. He’s my state senator, and I consider him a friend. I’d like to see him run for governor some day.
A degreed scientist, co-founder of Greenpeace, takes the position that global warming is not proved, is a hoax.
Patrick Moore, PhD, Ecology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore_(environmentalist)
If that fails we will rape, pillage and burn.
Sounds like spoiled liberal brats.
The Enviro-Nazis are insane.
those kids will be flipping burgers in a few months.
Attention ho’s.
Why aren’t the students identified by name?
The budding fascists will never give-up.
Kick the students out, and refuse to forward official transcripts because of their terrorist activities.
They will then receive the fate they want to inflict. I think that is fair.
Even Gov Dixie Lee Ray (D) would back Doug.
These useful idiots are nothing more than modern day terrorists, so much for tolerance.
Actually students that were admitted and continued to be enrolled thinking you can erase history by removing a degree that was validly earned reflects complete cluelessness on your part and damages the credibility of the university.
I don’t know much of anything about Doug Ericksen, but judging by the fact that the people who apparently have declared themselves to be his sworn enemies are tantamount to modern-day, brown-shirted book burners, I’d guess that he is a fine and upstanding example of everything that is good about this country.
WWU President Bruce Shepard should grow a set and expel these students...
Trying to revoke an alumni masters degree is not "freedom of expression" or a "diverse viewpoint" ...
It's academic terrorism...
So when will WWU President Bruce Shepard be launching an investigation into why his facility is failing so poorly at educating their students that they think their viewpoint on fantasy trumps actual reality? And which professors will he be firing?
Mr. Students seems to work anonymously.
Guess they’re not too confident in their cause.
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