Badlands defies gag with tweets that get replaced by goat

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The new Trump administration has told agencies to hold off on issuing new public communications
The 'gag' follows tweets by the National Park Service that showed photos of the size of the inauguration crowd, prompting a brief suspension of Interior Department communications
On Tuesday, Badlands national park tweeted out statistics about global warming that are directly contradicted by President Trump's statements
'Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate'
By the end of the business day, the tweets had vanished
Trump has called the idea of climate change a 'hoax' put forth by the Chinese

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:26 EST, 24 January 2017 | Updated: 15:27 EST, 25 January 2017

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Badlands national park in South Dakota sent out a series of tweets warning about the risks posed by global warming Tuesday – in apparent defiance of new administration gag orders on agency communications – only to have the tweets taken down.

'Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate,' the park, known for its stunning rock formations tweeted late Tuesday morning.

A follow-on tweet stated, 'Flipside of the atmosphere; ocean acidity has increased 30% since the Industrial Revolution. "Ocean Acidification" #climate #carboncycle.'

President Trump has in the past called climate change a 'hoax' that was put forward by the Chinese, although since the election he also has acknowledged the possibility that human contributed to climate change.

By Tuesday evening, the offending tweets had vanished – with the top tweet instead featuring a lonely photo of a goat standing atop a rocky cliff.

BAD FORM? The Twitter account of Badlands National Park sent out a series of tweets about climate change on Tuesday

Several federal agencies have informed their workers not to communicate either with Congress or the press while the new administration takes shape, the Huffington Post reported.

For example, Health and Human Services employees were told not to produce 'any correspondence to public officials,' and instead refer correspondence to agency higher ups.

The Associated Press reviewed emails that were sent to Environmental Protection Agency staff on Friday ordering a suspension of press releases, blog updates or social media accounts.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer got asked about reports of a gag order at the EPA at Tuesday afternoon's White House briefing.

The Badlands social media account sent out statistics about climate change

GOT HIS GOAT? Late Tuesday, the apparently offending tweets got taken down, with the park's Twitter page led by this tweet of a goat

GAG: Several agencies have cited orders not to communicate with the public

WE'LL LOOK INTO IT: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he was 'looking into' reports of a gag order covering agency communications

FORECAST CLOUDY: Another tweet mention carbon dioxide levels

THIS COULD BURN: The agency sent out information about ocean acidification, which affects marine life and coral

COMBUSTIBLE: The Twitter account also urged conservation

WHERE THE SKIES ARE NOT CLOUDY ALL DAY: A Bison is pictured

Badlands National Park features a series of rock formations

'I don’t know,' Spicer said. 'That story is literally breaking while we were entering the briefing room. We’re looking into it.'

The Democratic National Committee brought up the disappearing in a press release late Tuesday. 'Vladimir Putin would be proud,' the DNC wrote, referencing the Russian president.

Over the weekend, the National Park Service for a period of time was ordered to cease using its Twitter account, after an employee retweet images that showed President Trump's inauguration crowd falling short of President Obama's.

The Park Service did not immediately return a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear if the tweets were authorized, or if they were intended to counter internal gag orders, which have not been publicly described by the administration.

The AP reported that employees at the EPA, Interior (which oversees the Park Service), and HHS had gotten the directives, citing multiple sources.

'The moves have reinforced concerns that Trump, a climate change doubter, could seek to sideline scientific research showing that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming, as well as the career staffers at the agencies that conduct much of this research,' the AP reported.