Newly Released Documents Provide Further Indication That Florida Officials Were Directed Not To Talk About Climate Change

onApr 15, 2015 @ 16:01 PDT

This is a guest post by Jesse Coleman that originally appeared on Greenpeace Blogs.

In an email exchange from April of 2014 obtained by a records request, a communications official working for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Florida instructed a scientist to “make no claims as to cause” of Florida’s sea level rise. The scientist responded “I know the drill,” suggesting that a prohibition on mentioning climate change was well established in the department.

The exchange came in response to a request for an interview from National Geographic. In a report to her superiors, the “administrator of external affairs” for the DEP, who was in charge of approving the interview request, expressed confidence that the scientist would “stay on message,” but offered to be “more hands on with this because of the sensitivity,” should her supervisors insist.

Scientists have repeatedly warned rising sea levels pose a serious threat to Florida’a coast. A Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact paper found that water in the Miami area could rise by 2 feet by the year 2060, due to climate change.

Rick Scott

This latest evidence of a ban on mentioning climate change is congruent with earlier reports that Governor Rick Scott forbade Florida agencies from discussing the matter. As was first uncovered by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, DEP officials were told not to use the terms “climate change,” “global warming,” or “sustainability” once Rick Scott was elected governor in 2011. Rick Scott, a republican, has been a long time denier of climate change science.

As the New Republic reported:

a reporter asked Scott whether man-made climate change “is significantly affecting the weather, the climate.” Scott tried to change the subject and replied, “Well, I’m not a scientist.” When asked by the Tampa Bay Times in 2010 whether he believed in climate change, Scott simply replied, “No.”

Governor Rick Scott is well connected to the oil and gas billionaire Koch brothers’ world of climate change denial. Scott has attended secretive strategy meetings held by the Kochs, and has benefitted politically from Koch initiatives and funding. The Koch brothers have given over $79 million to groups that deny climate change science and oppose regulations on greenhouse gas pollution.