“Staff at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been told to avoid using the term climate change in their work, with the officials instructed to reference ‘weather extremes’ instead.
“A series of emails obtained by the Guardian between staff at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a USDA unit that oversees farmers’ land conservation, show that the incoming Trump administration has had a stark impact on the language used by some federal employees around climate change.
“A missive from Bianca Moebius-Clune, director of soil health, lists terms that should be avoided by staff and those that should replace them. ‘Climate change’ is in the ‘avoid’ category, to be replaced by ‘weather extremes.’ Instead of ‘climate change adaption’, staff are asked to use ‘resilience to weather extremes.’
“The primary cause of human-driven climate change is also targeted, with the term ‘reduce greenhouse gases’ blacklisted in favor of ‘build soil organic matter, increase nutrient use efficiency.’ Meanwhile, ‘sequester carbon’ is ruled out and replaced by ‘build soil organic matter.’”
“ . . . President Trump, his administration, and his Republican friends continue to deny the massive planetary crisis today that is climate change. This crisis is real, and it is caused by human activity. The time for denial is long, long past. We need to aggressively take action to protect our planet for our children and grandchildren, not operate on a policy of ignoring scientific consensus and denying facts.
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Deforestation and climate change
appear to be amplifying droughts in the Amazon
Rodrigo Baleia/LatinContent/Getty Images
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By Oliver Milman
