Environment

Wisconsin Public Lands Board Bans “Climate Change”

Following in the footsteps of Florida, Wisconsin’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands has banned the discussion of climate change.

via Bloomberg

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. “It’s not a part of our sole mission, which is to make money for our beneficiaries,” said State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk, a Republican who sits on the board. “That’s what I want our employees working on. That’s it. Managing our trust funds.”

It seems to me that if your job is it to manage public trust funds involving land, you would want to be briefed on the threats posed to the land you manage. Climate change is certainly a threat to land.

The issue apparently came up because some were concerned that agency staff may be studying global warming and climate change while on the job.

Again, I'd say that's part of their job. Is it not?

The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands school trust funds were designed a century ago to help finance public education through the sale and management of land granted by the federal government. Today it helps fund school libraries and makes loans to Wisconsin communities. The agency continues to receive some income from the timber industries. That makes climate change, as it affects the forests of Wisconsin, relevant at least in some part to the long-term health of the board.