Did Florida Ban Climate Change? The Amazing Untold story of the Climate Change Story of the Year!

America Adapts talks with Tristram Korten, investigative reporter from Florida who was responsible for the most covered climate change story of the year!  Learn the specific details on how Tristram broke the climate change story of the year, uncovering the fact that the Florida Governor had banned the use of climate change for state employees. Hear the untold stories of who was involved; what the ultimate fall out was from this story, and what it means for the future of Florida.  This amazing story was covered by almost every major news outlet, from Huffington Post, Washington Post, the New Republic, New York Magazine, USA Today, Time , CNN, and Newsweek; the international media also got involved, where Tristram describes when the French media conducted a surreal and humorous interview with him.  In addition, The Daily Show and even President Obama referenced this groundbreaking story.  Also, Doug and Tristram discuss the fall out of from the story and did it lead to any changes in government policy; they also discuss the ethics of government officials to share key information and the challenges of dealing with government employees;   Doug and Tristram then dig into the challenges of covering climate change stories in the popular media. Do reporters have the necessary skills and expertise to cover climate change, and specifically adapting to climate change? Doug and Tristram also discuss: the state of small and medium newspapers and their ability to function in the internet age; Tristram’s favorite news reporters; how the Republican party use to be the source of innovative climate change leadership;  the Zika virus and the future of Florida and the role of politics in climate change planning. This discussion is fundamentally about science integrity and the role of politics in that process. Yes, we cover a lot. So listen in as Tristram and Doug go play by play and recreate what exactly happened that led to the climate change story of the year!

Tristram Korten is a magazine and radio journalist based out of Miami. He writes about environment, politics, and investigative stories in the Southeast U.S. and the Caribbean Basin. His work has appeared in Atlantic Monthly, The NewRepublic.com, ForeignPolicy.com, Fast Company, Details, Macleans, Mother Jones, and newspapers like the Miami Herald and The New York Times. Tristram's radio stories have aired on NPR's "Here and Now" and PRI's "The World." He's won numerous awards, including a National Headliner Grand Prize in 2012 and most recently the 2016 Waldo Proffitt Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting in Florida, for a series exposing how the Florida Governor's Office banned the term "climate change" within state government.

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