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Perfscience.com has reported in a article that officials of the state of Florida were told they are not allowed to use the words "climate change" or "global warming":

Officials at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have claimed that they are not allowed to use the terms "climate change" or "global warming" in any official communications.

On the other hand we have other claims saying this is not the case.

Do we have any hard evidence that in fact people were forbidden from using the terms "climate change" or "global warming"?

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  • The original report seems to be here fcir.org/2015/03/08/…
    – mmmmmm
    Commented Mar 24, 2015 at 19:57
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    The claim says it is an unwritten policy. What source would convince you that it's true?
    – gerrit
    Commented Mar 25, 2015 at 14:51
  • A similar process is going on in Canada.
    – gerrit
    Commented Mar 25, 2015 at 14:52
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    At what point would an "unwritten policy" have enough evidence indicating that it does exist? There's a video showing a subcommittee member having a field day playing with someone who seems to be following this "non-policy." youtube.com/watch?v=Jo3K7rbkWZQ
    – Bart Silverstrim
    Commented Mar 30, 2015 at 12:50

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In March of 2015, there were such accusations by Florida employees, as explained the Miami Herald article In Florida, Officials Ban Term 'Climate Change'.

However, in April of 2015, at a confirmation hearing, Florida Department of Environment Protection head Jonathan Steverson said:

Climate change. Climate change. Climate change. There I said it three times. There is absolutely no policy against discussing climate change at the department. In fact, we have multiple programs related to climate change.

So, there was evidence of a verbally communicated ban on saying 'climate change' prior to March 2015 within the Florida Department of Environment Protection, but the head made clear that there was none as of April 2015.

Also, you can read on a Florida Department of Environment Protection website the report Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise in Florida

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  • might be worth adding this video of Brian Koons avoiding the term "climate change" at a Florida senate hearing: youtube.com/watch?v=BLVYjACDN1E
    – ventsyv
    Commented Jan 3, 2017 at 17:02
  • Also, the Florida report on climate change and sea level rise was published in 2010, so I don't see how it's relevant to this question.
    – ventsyv
    Commented Jan 3, 2017 at 17:15
  • @ventsyv it's relevant in the sense that someone who wants to ban the term "climate change" might not use their computer system to disseminate a report with "climate change" in the title. Like if a goverment wanted to ban saying "Tiananmen Square Massacre" they might not use government computer systems to give people access to reports titled "Tiananmen Square Massacre".
    – DavePhD
    Commented Jan 3, 2017 at 17:29

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