Has global warming eclipsed evolution as this years polarizing school curriculum subject? It looks that way in California, where the state senate has approved a bill that would mandate all new science textbooks in the public schools include details about climate change.

"You can't have a science curriculum that is relevant and current if it doesn't deal with the science behind climate change," said Democratic state Sen. Joe Simitian, who drafted the legislation. The measure still must pass in the state assembly before it heads to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. Schwarzenegger has yet to say whether he supports the measure.

The bill has attracted a growing group of critics, and the rhetoric sounds strangely similar to what we heard in Kansas and other states over the past few years over removing references to evolution from school textbooks. Take, for example, the following two quotes from politicians, and guess which one correlates to which controversy:

"Some wouldn't view them as skeptics. Some would view them as the right side of the issue ... We don't have complete factual information yet."

"I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought ... You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes."

The first quote comes from California state Sen. Jeff Denham, who opposes teaching climate change in the schools.

The second one is from President Bush, in support of a 2005 decision by the Kansas Board of Education to include greater criticism of evolution in its school science standards.

Our guess is that while the California bill won't stir up as much controversy as the evolution proposals in Kansas, we'll still be hearing a lot more about it if and when it winds up on Schwarzengeer's desk. It will certainly be a good test how green the Governator really is.

Thanks to Groovy Green for the heads up on this story.