One of the states that has been affected the most by climate change is apparently sick of hearing about it, or in denial, and allegedly banned workers from using the term.
According to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, employees at the Department of Environmental Protection said they were not allowed to use the term or any associated with climate change. Some of the terms allegedly banned included "global warming," and "sea-level rise.”
The employees claim that it was simply an unwritten policy not to use those words.
“We were told not to use the terms ‘climate change,’ ‘global warming’ or ‘sustainability,’” said Christopher Byrd, an attorney with the DEP’s Office of General Counsel in Tallahassee from 2008 to 2013. “That message was communicated to me and my colleagues by our superiors in the Office of General Counsel.”
The report alleged that the ban went into effort after Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2011. Scott, who was reelected in November, has long been a skeptic that climate change is caused by humans.
The Miami Herald noted that when asked previously about the subject he said, “I’m not a scientist.”
Since the report was published Sunday, a spokesperson with Scott’s office said that there is no policy on workers being banned from using such terms.
In 2012, North Carolina officials passed a law banning the state from basing coastal policies on scientific predictions regarding sea level rise. Like Florida’s coastline, scientist warned that North Carolina’s barrier islands are at particular risk from climate change.