The Guardian revealed Monday that staffers at the Department of Agriculture have been given very specific instructions about which words are acceptable and unacceptable to use when writing about climate change-related work:
"Climate change" is in the "avoid" category, to be replaced by "weather extremes." Instead of "climate change adaption," staff are asked to use "resilience to weather extremes."The primary cause of human-driven climate change is also targeted, with the term "reduce greenhouse gases" blacklisted in favor of "build soil organic matter, increase nutrient use efficiency." Meanwhile, "sequester carbon" is ruled out and replaced by "build soil organic matter." [The Guardian]
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