This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The latest victim of Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s unwritten ban on state officials using the words “climate change” is his own disaster preparedness lieutenant, who stumbled through verbal gymnastics to avoid using the scientific term in a newly surfaced video.
Bryan Koon, Florida’s emergency management chief, was testifying before the state’s Senate budget subcommittee on March 19, answering questions about the news that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will pull federal funding from states that refuse to directly address climate change.
In the video, uploaded by the advocacy group Forecast The Facts, Sen. Jeff Clemens (D) asks Koon whether he is aware of the updated FEMA guidelines, which would block 2016 funding in states whose governors refuse to implement so-called hazard-mitigation plans for global warming.
Koon affirmed that the state’s next plan would be required to include “language to that effect.”
Clemens came back, saying: “I used ‘climate change,’ but I’m suggesting, maybe as a state we use ‘atmosph... Read more
