Interior Secretary Sally Jewell wants to get rid of any climate change denial at the agency, telling her employees this week that if they doubt the existence of manmade global warming, they need to visit some federal lands to see the proof.
"I hope there are no climate change deniers in the Department of Interior," Jewell said Wednesday.
E&E News reported that Jewell invited any individuals who still hold such views to see the melting permafrost in Alaska or the disappearing snowpacks in the Sierra Mountains.
"If you don't believe in it, come out into the resources," she added.
Jewell, the former CEO of Recreation Equipment Inc., took over at the Interior Department in April.
In late June, President Barack Obama used his executive authority to issue a number of measures aimed at curbing climate change.
The Interior Department will be responsible for issuing permits for 10 gigawatts of renewables on public lands by the end of the year.
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"You and I can actually do something about it," Jewell said, according to E&E. "That's a privilege, and I would argue it's a moral imperative."
Jewell's comments have drawn criticism from climate skeptic blogs, with Marlo Lewis at GlobalWarming.org writing, "Such moralizing would be funny were it not for the chilling effect it is bound to have in an agency already mired in group think."
