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Mentions of Climate Change Removed from Federal Agencies’ Websites

Action Date: 02/04/2025

Explanation: Government Censorship
Scientists Affected: Climate
Agency(s):
Federal → DOD
Federal → DOE
Federal → DOT
Federal → EPA
Federal → State Department
Federal → USDA
Federal → White House
Presidential Administration: Trump Administration (Second)

The Trump administration has begun removing references to anything related to climate change from multiple federal agency websites, including the Department of Defense (DOD), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the State Department, and the White House.

Removed content includes: the entire page on climate change on the White House website; the climate and sustainability section of the DOT website; the main section on climate change on the State Department website; a climate portal on the DOD website; and content that provided assessments on an area’s vulnerability to wildfire on the USDA website. Federal researchers have seen their studies disappear from agency websites.

Critics say the removal of information will not slow the climate crisis but will hinder the public’s ability to understand and respond to climate change and increasingly extreme weather events.

Updates:

Litigation Update

In February 2026, the USDA settled a lawsuit challenging the removal of its climate change websites. In the settlement, the USDA agreed to restore the websites at least until the agency granted the plaintiffs access to the data underlying its climate risk viewer. It was agreed that, even if the government removes those websites again in the future, the data will remain available to the public through the plaintiffs.

© 2026 · Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The materials on this website are intended to provide a general summary of the law and do not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.