You may recall that it was recently reported Florida Governor Rick Scott has ordered state officials not to use the words “climate change” when discussing issues related to the environment. And now Wisconsin has joined the League of Denial by banning the staff of its Public Lands Board from discussing the matter, even if asked a direct question on the topic!

On Tuesday, the  Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands voted 2 to 1 to prohibit all staff “from engaging in global warming or climate change work.” Wisconsin state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk, a Republican who led the effort ,remarked after the vote:

“[Climate change is] not a part of our sole mission, which is to make money for our beneficiaries. That’s what I want our employees working on. That’s it. Managing our trust funds.”

Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette, who is also on the Public Lands board, said Republicans are attempting to “gag employees” on the issue of climate change, and he added that he believes he knows why Adamczyk is so hostile to the subject:

“Part of it is he hates environmental people. And that includes me. Having been on this board for close to 30 years, I’ve never seen such nonsense.”

The ban enacted would even apply to emails that are sent to staffers at the Public Lands office regarding climate change or global warming and the effects these might have on lands held by the state. Those, the Republican board members declared, should be forwarded to them for a response.

The Republican Party in this country, it would appear, has the solution to every problem that faces the United States: just pretend it doesn’t exist and, like a page ripped from Orwell’s 1984, if denial doesn’t work, then ban all discussion in order to quell any dissent.

It’s sort of like a child putting his or her fingers in their ears and loudly chanting, “La la la la la…I can’t hear you!”

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org.