The night sky and entrance sign at Joshua Tree National Park. (Photo: NPS/Lian Law/flickr/cc)
Dec 15, 2017
Back in November, the official Twitter account of Joshua Tree National Park sent out a series of tweets that included facts about climate change in general and how it's affecting the immense park in southern California.
But that apparently did not sit well with Trump-appointed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.
According to The Hill, citing "two sources close to the situation," Zinke summoned the superintendent of the park, David Smith, to Washington and chided him for the content of those tweets.
The scolding didn't include disciplinary action, the reporting notes, but served to send a message that under the Trump administration sending out content that conveys scientific consensus of the climate crisis is a no-no.
From The Hill:
One source said Smith "got a trip to the woodshed," and described his one-on-one meeting with Zinke as "highly unusual."
Another source said Zinke expressed concern with the tweets during the meeting, and told Smith "no more climate tweets."
Other sources with knowledge of the meeting confirmed that Zinke wanted to stop tweets about climate change.
Among the Nov. 8 tweets that were reportedly objectionable include one that said "An overwhelming consensus--over 97%--of climate scientists agree that human activity is the driving force behind today's rate of global temperature increase. Natural factors that impact the climate are still at work, but cannot account for today's rapid warming." Another stated: "Park scientists know that climate change will effect the desert ecosystem, but they don't yet know what exactly will change. The data they are gathering about what's currently happening will ID areas of special interest and assist management decisions for planning & protection."
\u201cAs the climate rapidly changes, habitable ranges will shift. Species not able to keep pace will perish. Current models predict the suitable habitat for Joshua trees may be reduced by 90% in the future with a 3\u00b0C (5.4\u00b0F) increase in average temperature over the next 100 years.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510159832
\u201cEmissions from burning of fossil fuels have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This amplifies the greenhouse effect.\nHuman activity is affecting the land, oceans, & atmosphere, altering the balance of the climate system & causing global changes.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510159675
\u201cThese refugia are areas of special interest to park managers as places to concentrate future conservation efforts.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510160237
A spokesperson for Zinke denied the characterization of the meeting.
However, Zinke has made clear the department under his direction will not prioritize climate change but will push to shrink the size of national monuments and boost the interests of the fossil fuel industry.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Back in November, the official Twitter account of Joshua Tree National Park sent out a series of tweets that included facts about climate change in general and how it's affecting the immense park in southern California.
But that apparently did not sit well with Trump-appointed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.
According to The Hill, citing "two sources close to the situation," Zinke summoned the superintendent of the park, David Smith, to Washington and chided him for the content of those tweets.
The scolding didn't include disciplinary action, the reporting notes, but served to send a message that under the Trump administration sending out content that conveys scientific consensus of the climate crisis is a no-no.
From The Hill:
One source said Smith "got a trip to the woodshed," and described his one-on-one meeting with Zinke as "highly unusual."
Another source said Zinke expressed concern with the tweets during the meeting, and told Smith "no more climate tweets."
Other sources with knowledge of the meeting confirmed that Zinke wanted to stop tweets about climate change.
Among the Nov. 8 tweets that were reportedly objectionable include one that said "An overwhelming consensus--over 97%--of climate scientists agree that human activity is the driving force behind today's rate of global temperature increase. Natural factors that impact the climate are still at work, but cannot account for today's rapid warming." Another stated: "Park scientists know that climate change will effect the desert ecosystem, but they don't yet know what exactly will change. The data they are gathering about what's currently happening will ID areas of special interest and assist management decisions for planning & protection."
\u201cAs the climate rapidly changes, habitable ranges will shift. Species not able to keep pace will perish. Current models predict the suitable habitat for Joshua trees may be reduced by 90% in the future with a 3\u00b0C (5.4\u00b0F) increase in average temperature over the next 100 years.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510159832
\u201cEmissions from burning of fossil fuels have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This amplifies the greenhouse effect.\nHuman activity is affecting the land, oceans, & atmosphere, altering the balance of the climate system & causing global changes.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510159675
\u201cThese refugia are areas of special interest to park managers as places to concentrate future conservation efforts.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510160237
A spokesperson for Zinke denied the characterization of the meeting.
However, Zinke has made clear the department under his direction will not prioritize climate change but will push to shrink the size of national monuments and boost the interests of the fossil fuel industry.
Back in November, the official Twitter account of Joshua Tree National Park sent out a series of tweets that included facts about climate change in general and how it's affecting the immense park in southern California.
But that apparently did not sit well with Trump-appointed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.
According to The Hill, citing "two sources close to the situation," Zinke summoned the superintendent of the park, David Smith, to Washington and chided him for the content of those tweets.
The scolding didn't include disciplinary action, the reporting notes, but served to send a message that under the Trump administration sending out content that conveys scientific consensus of the climate crisis is a no-no.
From The Hill:
One source said Smith "got a trip to the woodshed," and described his one-on-one meeting with Zinke as "highly unusual."
Another source said Zinke expressed concern with the tweets during the meeting, and told Smith "no more climate tweets."
Other sources with knowledge of the meeting confirmed that Zinke wanted to stop tweets about climate change.
Among the Nov. 8 tweets that were reportedly objectionable include one that said "An overwhelming consensus--over 97%--of climate scientists agree that human activity is the driving force behind today's rate of global temperature increase. Natural factors that impact the climate are still at work, but cannot account for today's rapid warming." Another stated: "Park scientists know that climate change will effect the desert ecosystem, but they don't yet know what exactly will change. The data they are gathering about what's currently happening will ID areas of special interest and assist management decisions for planning & protection."
\u201cAs the climate rapidly changes, habitable ranges will shift. Species not able to keep pace will perish. Current models predict the suitable habitat for Joshua trees may be reduced by 90% in the future with a 3\u00b0C (5.4\u00b0F) increase in average temperature over the next 100 years.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510159832
\u201cEmissions from burning of fossil fuels have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This amplifies the greenhouse effect.\nHuman activity is affecting the land, oceans, & atmosphere, altering the balance of the climate system & causing global changes.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510159675
\u201cThese refugia are areas of special interest to park managers as places to concentrate future conservation efforts.\u201d— Joshua Tree NPS (@Joshua Tree NPS) 1510160237
A spokesperson for Zinke denied the characterization of the meeting.
However, Zinke has made clear the department under his direction will not prioritize climate change but will push to shrink the size of national monuments and boost the interests of the fossil fuel industry.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.