Wisconsin Bans Staff Of Public Lands Board From Talking About Climate Change
Source: HuffingtonPost
Wisconsin Bans Staff Of Public Lands Board From Talking About Climate Change
Posted: 04/08/2015 6:15 pm EDT Updated: 2 hours ago
TREES WISCONSIN
According to Wisconsin's Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, working on climate change, or even just talking about it while at work, is a waste of public funds.
On Tuesday, the board voted 2-to-1 to prohibit staff "from engaging in global warming or climate change work" while on the clock at the Board of Commissioners.
The move comes as Republicans on the board expressed outrage that the board's executive director, Tia Nelson, had served on a state global warming task force in 2007 and 2008, which was organized by former Gov. Jim Doyle (D).
La Follette, the only vote against the measure, said Republicans are trying to "gag employees" on climate change. He also accused [Rep.] Adamczyk of having personal motivations on the subject.
"Part of it is he hates environmental people," La Follette told the Wisconsin State Journal. "And that includes me."...........
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/wisconsin-climate-change-board_n_7028732.html
This move by Republicans further demeans state workers and Wisconsin
Tweets:
@maddow-->Wisconsin #Republicans Bans Staff -Mia Nelson -Of Public Lands Board From Talking About #ClimateChange http://huff.to/1ChAk2z #p2
Meet Tia Nelson, a #Wisconsin state employee banned from discussing or answering emails about "climate change": https://twitter.com/ForecastFacts/status/585884746149793792/photo/1 #p2
@SenShilling-->Republicans try to prevent #Wisconsin official --Tia Nelson working on climate change http://gu.com/p/47aha/stw #wipolitics #p2
= new reply since forum marked as read
Forecast The Facts ?@ForecastFacts 7h7 hours ago
Meet Tia Nelson, a Wisconsin state employee banned from discussing or answering emails about "climate change":
What the hell is happing to my home land?? D*mn. 
uga. poor Shirley having to swear in this tub of lard!
Emily Mills ?@millbot 6h6 hours ago
Matt Adamczyk is a moron, it's official. "Board of Commissioners of Public Lands bans staff from climate change work" http://bit.ly/1yWIXyf
Board of Commissioners of Public Lands bans staff from climate change...
The three-member board voted 2-1 to prohibit staff from work related to climate change, even if it's only responding to emails on the topic.
Board of Commissioners of Public Lands bans staff from climate change work
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17 hours ago • By Steven Elbow | The Capital Times
....."The move to ban an issue leaves staff at the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands in the unusual position of not being able to speak about how climate change might affect lands it oversees," writes Bloomberg reporter Eric Roston.
Roston cites a U.S. National Climate Assessment that states that climate change could threaten forests in the Midwest, where the temperature has risen an average of 1.5 degrees from 1895 to 2012. Warming temperatures could cause a decline in several species of trees, according to the report. Another government report Roston cites, from the Environmental Protection Agency, says that climate change threats include droughts, wildfires and the proliferation of harmful insects, such as the gypsy moth.
While Adamczyk and Schimel are new to the board and voted for the measure, La Follette, who voted against the climate change ban, has been on the board for nearly 30 years.
“Having been on this board for close to 30 years, I’ve never seen such nonsense,” he said in the conference call on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. “We’ve reached the point now where we’re going to try to gag employees from talking about issues. In this case, climate change. That’s as bad as the governor of Florida recently telling his staff that they could not use the words ‘climate change.’”
He was referring to a report last month by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting that found that Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials "have been ordered not to use the term 'climate change' or 'global warming' in any official communications, emails, or reports."
The Bloomberg report quoted Adamczyk as saying, in response to a question regarding what Nelson should do if she receives an email concerning climate change, “she can forward it to us and we can all look at it. I would prefer that we didn’t have to prohibit stuff like this. It just seems silly that we would have to. But I’m not the one that’s been engaging on this topic for years.”
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/board-of-commissioners-of-public-lands-bans-staff-from-climate/article_1c433c90-2d10-5dfa-8b3e-955e201a3457.html#ixzz3Wob3NxrS
State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk, seen here at his swearing in on Jan. 5, has successfully pushed for banning staff with the state Public Lands Commission from working on climate change issues. Adamczyk sits on the three-member commission.
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