The rightwing state government in Florida knows how to respond to climate change - bar employees of the state environmental protection department from using the words "climate change, global warming" and "sustainability." There, problem solved.
Florida governor Rick "I am not a scientist" Scott is said to be behind the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" policy.
Officials with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the agency in charge of setting conservation policy and enforcing environmental laws in the state, issued directives in 2011 barring thousands of employees from using the phrases “climate change” and “global warming”, according to a bombshell report by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR).
The report ties the alleged policy, which is described as “unwritten”, to the election of Republican governor Rick Scott and his appointment of a new department director that year. Scott, who was re-elected last November, has declined to say whether he believes in climate change caused by human activity.
