When Newly elected President Donald Trump’s administration took over the White House website during his earlier tenure, it quickly made noticeable changes, including removing web pages highlighting climate change and environmental policies. Today, similar patterns have resurfaced, with federal websites across various agencies undergoing significant alterations or disappearing.
This trend has drawn criticism and raised concerns about the government’s commitment to combating climate issues.
Users attempting to reach environmental resources like the Environmental Justice page or the National Climate Task Force page get “Page Not Found” messages on the White House website. These are part of a larger pattern of removing crucial climate and environmental justice information that may indicate a shift in policy priorities.
What is important to note is that these pages were primary sources of information on the administration’s position on climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice.
Jenna Wadsworth, an environmental leader, took to X (previously Twitter) to note such changes, suggesting that the erasure of fundamental climate-related pages coincided with the U.S. pullout from the Paris Agreement. Such concerns echoed many critics in believing that changes reflected a much broader political departure from climate action.
The White House has removed information on Environmental Justice (https://t.co/P5zVhHy44b), the National Climate Task Force (https://t.co/4CHprWKbcQ), and the Council on Environmental Quality (https://t.co/Wf7mbS6rY0), all after removing us from the Paris Agreement. pic.twitter.com/i6MT0taoFQ
— Jenna Wadsworth (@jennawadsworth) January 23, 2025
The Climate Content Shift and Trump’s Administration
Climate-related content dismantling started during the Trump administration, right after President Trump’s inauguration in 2017. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has been one of the most credible sources of climate change information, saw its climate change section dramatically reduced. Subsequently, the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and State Department also reduced the use of terms such as “climate change” and instead used terms like “energy independence” and “weather extremes.”
It appears some webpages referring to clean energy and fighting climate change have been scrubbed from the websites of the Interior Department and other agency webpages.https://t.co/hV1eg1QTQw
— Ari Natter (@AriNatter) January 20, 2025
This was in tandem with Trump’s position, which labeled climate change a “hoax” and aimed to deregulate policies that restricted oil and gas production. The removal of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement exemplified the skepticism surrounding climate change and the financial responsibilities associated with global climate agreements.
Biden Administration Changes
Since January 19, 2025, a number of federal U.S. websites have undergone dramatic changes. The EPA’s Office of Science and Technology (OST) took the word “science” out of its description, and the Health and Human Services (HHS) website deleted crucial pro-abortion content. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) also erased its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) webpage.
Climate-related page removal is one concern in which the public’s access to essential information will be affected. When reliable, centralized sources on climate change and reproductive health are absent, knowledge gaps for the public allow misinformation and deter policy advocacy.
The Call for Transparency and Science-Based Policies
Removal of climate change-related pages from federal websites underscores the call for access to government resources aimed at combating climate change. Advocates point to the need for bipartisan commitment to science-based policies, rebuilding public trust, and making the information available.
Removing climate information from government websites is a pattern that has been ongoing for some time, but the exacerbation of the concerns it causes increases as climate change impacts grow worldwide. The challenge now is to ensure transparency and restore the flow of critical environmental data to safeguard vulnerable communities.
