Discussing climate change is out of bounds for workers at a state agency in Wisconsin. So is any work related to climate change—even responding to e-mails about the topic.
A vote on Tuesday by Wisconsin’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, a three-member panel overseeing an agency that benefits schools and communities in the state, enacted the staff ban on climate change.Two of the three member Board are (surprise!) members of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party. Of course, since they're "not scientists," the Republican Board members couldn't possibly know that climate change would affect the water and forests for which they have a stewardship responsibility. Even so, why would they want to do anything to cause a problem for their bosses, the Tea Party- funding, environment- polluting Koch brothers?
The Board's only Democrat, Secretary of State Douglas La Follette, had this to say of the gag rule:
“Having been on this board for close to 30 years, I’ve never seen such nonsense,” La Follette said in the conference call on Tuesday. He voted against the measure. “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.’”The gift that keeps on giving, provided by Wisconsin Democrats who didn't bother going to the polls last November: Gov. Scott "Koch Head" Walker and his merry band of know-nothing knuckle-draggers.
