Major Scientific Society Boycotts Louisiana to Protest Creationism Bill
As we noted last Saturday, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, a major scientific organization, is boycotting Louisiana for its 2011 convention, in protest of Governor Bobby Jindal’s promotion and signing of a stealth creationism bill. The New Orleans Times-Picayune has more on the story: National science group boycotting Louisiana in protest of Science Education Act.
BATON ROUGE — A national organization of scientists has informed Gov. Bobby Jindal it will not hold its annual convention in Louisiana as long as the recently adopted Science Education Act remains on the books.
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology told Jindal in a recent letter that its executive committee chose Salt Lake City for its 2011 convention over New Orleans “in large part” because of the legislation. Satterlie’s letter is posted on the group’s Web site under the headline: “No Thanks, New Orleans.”
“That’s too bad,” Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said of the group’s decision. “New Orleans is a first-class city for a convention.” …
“It is the firm opinion of SICB’s leadership that this law undermines the integrity of science and science education in Louisiana,” Richard Satterlie, president of the society, wrote to Jindal.
According to Satterlie, New Orleans “has been a popular venue” for the the 2,300-member organization in the past. Satterlie told Jindal that the 2009 meeting brought more than 1,850 scientists and graduate students to Boston for five days last month.
A 5-day convention with 2000 attendees brings a huge amount of cash into a city like New Orleans. Bobby Jindal really screwed his own state.
Frank says: