Still a little sore about how the gubernatorial elections turned out in November? Upset over the re-election of a man who personally invoked the Fifth Amendment 75 times in relation to his role in the largest Medicare fraud case in U.S. history?
Believe us, we understand. We’re still not OK with it, either. Luckily, there’s a silver lining hanging around the idea of another four years of Rick Scott in office — the promise that his barely concealed, contemptuous and insane policies will be revealed, to our shock and awe.
Such is the case this week. In a report from the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, several former employees of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection have said once Scott’s regime took power they were banned from using the terms “climate change,” “global warming” or even “sustainability.” It’s a policy that’s misguided, nefarious and, in many ways, just straight-up creepy, so it’s right up Scott’s alley.
Denying the consensus of 97 percent of scientists in the state that will be most affected by rising sea levels and extreme weather goes beyond irresponsible and verges on lunacy. There’s a reason the South Miami City Commission voted to secede from the state of Florida — Tallahassee refuses to acknowledge the imminent reality and dangers of climate change.
Of course, the DEP’s press secretary denied these claims, and there’s no paper trail to trace. Officially, the policy doesn’t exist. But the ample number of DEP employees who claim it does suggests otherwise. Their claims are bolstered further once you look at them in the context of Scott’s persistent, dismissive denial of climate change while in office. In August, there was a particularly telling incident where Scott met with five of the state’s top climate scientists. After hearing their appeals for a grand total of 30 minutes, Scott asked them where students in the field of climate science get jobs and left.
If true, this unwritten policy is Scott’s personal brand of a nationwide campaign against the concept of climate change. The movement reached an absurd climax a few weeks ago, when Sen. Jim Inhofe brandished a snowball on the Capitol floor, making the astute observation that “it is very cold out.” Inhofe’s case against the existence of climate change is based on the existence of a snowball in February. His logic runs directly against a nearly unanimous conclusion made in research in the last three decades and makes about as much sense as trying to prove world hunger isn’t a problem because you were able to get a burrito while you were in Chipotle.
Inhofe’s stunt would be laughable if he weren’t the chairman of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. Representatives opposed to the idea of climate change have various justifications for their views — religion (Inhofe believes it’s wrong to say anyone other than God can affect climate), profit margins of energy companies and an interpretation of the American Dream as an infinite number of steaks and SUVs play a part.
But you’d think institutions like the DEP would be exempt so it could, maybe, protect the environment. Florida’s attempt to censor the DEP is far more sinister than a snowball.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 3/8/2015 under the headline “Fla ban on ‘climate change’ phrasing sadly not a joke”]
