National Parks Spending $287K on Climate Change Internships

The National Park Service is spending $287,308 on an internship program for college students to learn about producing messages to communicate the impact of climate change, according to a grant notice reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

George Mason University partners with the Park Service on the program, which provides students with paid internships to produce videos, websites, infographics, and other items, according to the program's website.

"This paid summer internship program—in partnership with the National Park Service—trains and places undergraduate and graduate interns in the National Capital Region's national parks to develop materials and programs that communicate the impact of climate change on natural, cultural, historical, and recreational resources in the parks," the program's site said.

George Mason University noted the rationale for starting the Center for Climate Change Communication on the program's site, including "climate change is caused by human actions," "climate change is harming us," and "we can solve the problem, if we work at it."

The 2016 interns are working on a campaign for the George Washington Memorial Parkway, a 25-mile Virginia parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River. Their work includes a short film about the parkway's Belle Haven Marina and the effect of the rise of sea level, according to the program's 2016 campaign page.

George Mason University supports the U.S. remaining in the Paris climate change accord, according to its rationale.

"The overarching question we are attempting to answer — and the defining rationale for creating our center — is: How can sufficient and political will be created fast enough to limit the Earth's warming to less than 2.0 degrees Celsius, (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and to protect people with sensible climate change adaptation measures?"

Edward Wile Maibach, the director of the center, posted a rebuke of President Donald Trump possibly pulling out of the Paris accord. Maibach wrote in a Wednesday tweet:

If Trump pulls us out of the Paris Climate Agreement, it will be America's greatest moment of shame. @Mason4C @docsforclimate @republicEn

— Ed Maibach (@MaibachEd) May 31, 2017

• China's Li: Fighting Climate Change is 'Global Consensus'
• Graham to Trump: Stay in Paris Agreement on Climate Change