Trump admin removes climate crisis mentions from Government websites
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The latest actions are part of a broader effort to limit public access to climate and environmental data.
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Screenshot of the US Department of Agriculture's website on climate change (www.fs.usda.gov)
The administration of US President Donald Trump has begun erasing references to the climate crisis from federal government websites, according to a report by The Guardian on Tuesday.
Among the removals, the Department of Defense's climate portal has been taken down, along with a section on climate change previously available on the Department of State's website. Additionally, pages addressing climate-related concerns, such as the risks posed by wildfires, have disappeared from the official websites of the White House and the Department of Agriculture, the report stated.
A section titled "Climate and Sustainability" has also been eliminated from the Department of Transportation's website, following directives from the new leadership. The agency has reportedly ordered the removal of references to climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental justice initiatives, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
Data Erasure
The latest actions are part of a broader effort to limit public access to climate and environmental data. Recent reports indicate that critical datasets, including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have also been removed. The CDC's Social Vulnerability Index and Environmental Justice Index, which track climate-related risks and community vulnerabilities, have been taken offline as part of a wider push to eliminate content associated with environmental justice and gender identity policies.
Environmental experts warn that these deletions could severely hinder public awareness and policy efforts to combat the climate crisis. Critics have compared the removals to modern-day book-burning, arguing that suppressing government-published climate data at a time of escalating global warming could have serious consequences.
Read more: Trump nominates Fracking giant, climate change denier as Energy Sec.
During Trump's previous term, the frequency of climate crisis mentions on federal websites dropped by 40%, The Guardian estimated. These references were restored under Joe Biden when he took office in 2021, but the current removals suggest a renewed effort to roll back climate-related policies.
