Republican officials in Wisconsin and Florida have found a way to take inaction on climate change to a whole new level—by directing state workers not to discuss it. In Wisconsin, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands forbade workers in the agency (which oversees state forests) from "engaging in global warming or climate change work"—including responding to emails about it. The gag order is likely aimed primarily at Tia Nelson, the board's executive secretary, who served on a state climate task force eight years ago. In response, climate activists delivered more than 100,000 petition signatures to Governor Scott Walker, asking him to lift the ban. It remains in place, however. Nelson declined to comment.

Florida's anti-climate change fatwa was uncovered by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, which interviewed numerous state workers who had been told not to use the words "climate change" or "global warming." The center quotes Bill Taylor, a recently retired employee with the state Department of Transportation, who said that at a meeting in 2012 or 2013, "it was mentioned very casually that in our future dealings with the public, we were not to use the terms 'climate change' or 'global warming.' But it was OK to talk about sea-level rise, because for some projects that had to be taken into consideration."

Florida governor Rick Scott denies that such a ban exists, as does a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation. But while officialdom insists that no one is being gagged, they still go to sometimes comical lengths to avoid the forbidden words. At a March hearing, state senator Jeff Clemens asked Bryan Koon, director of the state Division of Emergency Management, about the federal decision to deny disaster-mitigation funds to states that don't plan for climate change. "My understanding is that future versions of our mitigation plan will be required to have language discussing that issue," Koons said. 

"What issue is that?" taunted Clemens.

"The issue that you mentioned earlier," replied Koons.