Got Real!
2025-02-01 11:14:49 UTC
On Thursday, the Trump administration ordered the US agriculture
department to unpublish its websites documenting or referencing the
climate crisis.
By Friday, the landing pages on the United States Forest Service website
for key resources, research and adaptation tools including those that
provide vital context and vulnerability assessments for wildfires had
gone dark, leaving behind an error message or just a single line: You are
not authorized to access this page.
The government website was one of many that were affected on Friday by new
directives from the Trump administration on what information federal
agencies can publish.
Several went dark on Friday as agencies scrambled to comply with Donald
Trumps executive orders declaring his administration would recognize only
two genders and ordering an end to diversity, equity and inclusion
initiatives.
The changes at the forest service website followed a directive issued by
the United States Department of Agricultures office of communications. In
the memo, which was reviewed by the Guardian, officials instructed website
managers across the agency to identify and archive or unpublish any
landing pages focused on climate change. . It also included a Friday
deadline to list the mentions in a spreadsheet for further review.
On Friday, USDA officials clarified that the content should not be
deleted. USDA needs to adhere to requirements around records retention,
so Archive or Unpublish [sic] landing pages focused on climate change, an
email sent to agency public affairs directors read.
As of publication, the USDAs Climate Hubs helpful sites that connect
producers to local programs and research are still live, but many sites
were down, including the USFS Climate Change Resource Center, Climate
Action Tracker, and the National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change.
The sites featured important tools and information to help mitigate the
effects of climate change and research. For now, the administration has
effectively barred access to dozens of programs set up to help a wide
range of communities from farmers to firefighters as they navigate
changing conditions.
The changes are part of a dizzying flurry of orders reshaping the federal
governments policies on global heating.
Trump repealed environmental protections put in place by Joe Biden,
declared a misguided energy emergency to hasten already-booming fossil
fuel extraction, and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
The administration also added confusion and chaos within federal agencies
by halting hiring and pausing projects, along with issuing a widespread
buyout offer that would guarantee federal workers pay and benefits through
September 2025 if they resign within the next week.
Changes at other federal websites on Friday signaled other major shifts in
policy.
In a letter sent on Wednesday, the office of personnel management directed
agency heads to terminate grants and contracts related to gender
ideology, ask staff to remove pronouns from their government emails, and
disband resource groups on the issue, too.
Much public health information was taken down from the website of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC): contraception guidance; a
factsheet about HIV and transgender people; lessons on building supportive
school environments for transgender and nonbinary kids; details about
National Transgender HIV Testing Day; a set of government surveys showing
transgender students suffering higher rates of depression, drug use,
bullying and other problems.
Disease experts said eliminating resources created dangerous gaps in
scientific information. The Infectious Diseases Society of America, a
medical association, issued a statement decrying the removal of
information about HIV and people who are transgender. Access is critical
to efforts to end the HIV epidemic, the organizations leaders said.
It is unclear what the agencies will do with the websites or the policies
and studies once detailed on them; links to the landing pages are still
live, even if the information on each page has been archived.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/31/trump-order-usda-websites-
climate-crisis
department to unpublish its websites documenting or referencing the
climate crisis.
By Friday, the landing pages on the United States Forest Service website
for key resources, research and adaptation tools including those that
provide vital context and vulnerability assessments for wildfires had
gone dark, leaving behind an error message or just a single line: You are
not authorized to access this page.
The government website was one of many that were affected on Friday by new
directives from the Trump administration on what information federal
agencies can publish.
Several went dark on Friday as agencies scrambled to comply with Donald
Trumps executive orders declaring his administration would recognize only
two genders and ordering an end to diversity, equity and inclusion
initiatives.
The changes at the forest service website followed a directive issued by
the United States Department of Agricultures office of communications. In
the memo, which was reviewed by the Guardian, officials instructed website
managers across the agency to identify and archive or unpublish any
landing pages focused on climate change. . It also included a Friday
deadline to list the mentions in a spreadsheet for further review.
On Friday, USDA officials clarified that the content should not be
deleted. USDA needs to adhere to requirements around records retention,
so Archive or Unpublish [sic] landing pages focused on climate change, an
email sent to agency public affairs directors read.
As of publication, the USDAs Climate Hubs helpful sites that connect
producers to local programs and research are still live, but many sites
were down, including the USFS Climate Change Resource Center, Climate
Action Tracker, and the National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change.
The sites featured important tools and information to help mitigate the
effects of climate change and research. For now, the administration has
effectively barred access to dozens of programs set up to help a wide
range of communities from farmers to firefighters as they navigate
changing conditions.
The changes are part of a dizzying flurry of orders reshaping the federal
governments policies on global heating.
Trump repealed environmental protections put in place by Joe Biden,
declared a misguided energy emergency to hasten already-booming fossil
fuel extraction, and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
The administration also added confusion and chaos within federal agencies
by halting hiring and pausing projects, along with issuing a widespread
buyout offer that would guarantee federal workers pay and benefits through
September 2025 if they resign within the next week.
Changes at other federal websites on Friday signaled other major shifts in
policy.
In a letter sent on Wednesday, the office of personnel management directed
agency heads to terminate grants and contracts related to gender
ideology, ask staff to remove pronouns from their government emails, and
disband resource groups on the issue, too.
Much public health information was taken down from the website of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC): contraception guidance; a
factsheet about HIV and transgender people; lessons on building supportive
school environments for transgender and nonbinary kids; details about
National Transgender HIV Testing Day; a set of government surveys showing
transgender students suffering higher rates of depression, drug use,
bullying and other problems.
Disease experts said eliminating resources created dangerous gaps in
scientific information. The Infectious Diseases Society of America, a
medical association, issued a statement decrying the removal of
information about HIV and people who are transgender. Access is critical
to efforts to end the HIV epidemic, the organizations leaders said.
It is unclear what the agencies will do with the websites or the policies
and studies once detailed on them; links to the landing pages are still
live, even if the information on each page has been archived.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/31/trump-order-usda-websites-
climate-crisis