Florida officials ban the terms 'global warming,' 'climate change'

Gov. Rick Scott.
(Image credit: Erik Kellar/Getty Images)

Several former employees, consultants, and volunteers with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection told the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting that they were directed to not use the terms "climate change," "global warming," and "sustainability" in official communications after Gov. Rick Scott (R) took office in 2011.

Part of the state agency's responsibility is to study climate change, the FCIR said in its report published Sunday. Christopher Byrd, a former attorney with the DEP's Office of General Counsel, told the FCIR that his superiors shared this new unwritten policy to him after Scott appointed Herschel Vinyard Jr. as the DEP's director. "It's an indication that the political leadership in the state of Florida is not willing to address these issues and face the music when it comes to the challenges that climate change presents," he said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.