MIchael Mann: "Prepare For The Worst" As Climate Data Disappears From Federal Websites

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Some researchers have found that their own studies, from ocean carbon cycles to the connectivity of cleaner electrical grids, have now vanished from federal government websites. Critics say the actions will stifle the public’s understanding of the climate crisis amid record-breaking temperatures and a wave of storms and wildfires that are being worsened by the burning of fossil fuels. “We should plan for the worst,” said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. “The keys to the car have been given to the polluters and fossil fuel plutocrats and they intend to drive it off the climate cliff.”

Mann said the Trump administration may be following in the footsteps of Florida, which last year passed a law banning any reference to climate change from state laws. “Nothing would surprise me at this point, including efforts by the administration and the polluters who are running it to ban all references to climate change by administration agencies,” Mann said. “[Florida governor Ron] DeSantis and Florida were indeed the test bed.”

Some climate content remains, for now, on US government websites, although climate change sections on the Environmental Protection Agency’s and the Department of Energy’s websites appear to have been made less visible from their homepages. Nasa’s key climate change website, which helps chart and explain the increase in the global temperature and planet-heating emissions, remains active but with a note that it is “going to look a little different in the coming months”. The new Nasa portal removes “climate” from its URL.

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As well as moving to jettison the US from the Paris climate agreement, the president has also overseen less attention-grabbing moves to stand down the US’s response to the climate crisis. Federally-funded highways, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure will no longer have to adhere to tougher standards to withstand fiercer floods and storms, while the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI), which seeks to preserve federal data, has noted the White House’s council on environmental quality has taken down a sustainability plan aimed at cutting pollution from federal activities.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/04/trump-climate-change-federal-websites