*Snort* - Miami Herald Columnist On Florida's "Great Leader", Climate Language Rules

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The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting started this latest criticism of Scott reverberating through the Internet on Sunday, reporting that employees of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had been barred from using “climate change” or “global warming” in emails, reports or official communications. For two days running, this has been a top trending story on the Miami Herald website, nearly as world-shaking (as opposed to world drenching) as the Dolphins’ acquisition of Ndamukong Suh.

In a state particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of climate, especially sea level changes, failing to account for global warming might make the Department of Environmental Protection seem like an oxymoron. But Rick “I am not a scientist” Scott clearly needed a new strategy. With 2014 going down as the hottest year on record, after 14 of the last 15 years registered as the hottest ever, denial began to seem moronic, without the oxy. Scott couldn’t just tell his constituents, “Who cares? I’ll be out of office before things turn really nasty. Then I’ll just take my millions and move to balmy Canada.” Obviously, censorship’s more expedient than that honesty stuff. Besides, other government entities have done a dandy job of suppressing unwelcome information. And not just dictators in Uzbekistan and Cuba.

Since 1996, the Centers for Disease Control has been banned (through Congress at the behest of the National Rifle Association) from conducting research on gun violence. Because, sometimes, for politicians, it’s better not to know.

The Texas Board of Education demanded textbooks that deemphasize unwanted stuff about evolution and climate change. North Carolina passed a bill in 2012 that banned ban state agencies from basing coastal policies on the latest scientific predictions about sea level.

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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fred-grimm/article13140821.html