Experts issue warning as entire staff of critical public information site is abruptly fired: 'I would hate to see it turn into a propaganda website'

One of the internet's most popular sources for climate science abruptly lost nearly all of its staff, The Guardian reported. The cuts to the government-funded site came as the Trump administration has engaged in sweeping efforts to censor climate science and cut funding for climate research.  

What's happening?

Multiple government workers assigned to the Climate.gov website informed The Guardian that their contracts and those of nearly all of their colleagues had not been renewed as expected.

The only workers retained were two web developers, sparking fears that the site, which receives hundreds of thousands of views per month, might not disappear but instead transform into something much worse.

"My bigger worry, long-term, is I would hate to see it turn into a propaganda website for this administration, because that's not at all what it was," said Tom Di Liberto, a former spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency responsible for the Climate.gov site. 

Rebecca Lindsey, the website's former program manager, echoed those sentiments, telling The Guardian of the "sinister possibility" that the administration would replace the site's climate science with anti-science propaganda, "leveraging our audience, our brand, our millions of people that we reach on social media every month." 

"That's the worst case scenario," Lindsey said. 

Why are attacks on climate science important?

For decades, oil, gas, and coal companies — along with their legions of government lobbyists, public-relations experts, and friendly politicians — have led a massive campaign to mislead the public about the devastating impact their products have on the planet, particularly the climate.

While disagreements about what to do about climate science are understandable, the Trump administration's censorship of climate science represents the latest iteration of its half-century-long crusade to quell public outrage and quash efforts to build a clean-energy future.  

Researchers at Columbia Law School put together a comprehensive list of the Trump administration's climate censorship, noting changes to the numerous agency websites, from the Department of Defense to the Department of Energy to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The attacks on climate science have not ended with the censorship of government websites. The version of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" that passed the House of Representatives cut tax credits aimed at encouraging Americans to invest in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient homes.

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Perhaps, most significantly, the administration has also taken a hatchet to funding for climate research. In one particularly impactful cut, the administration fired the staff responsible for producing the National Climate Assessment, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. The only entities that truly stand to benefit from all this are oil and gas companies.

"This assessment is so important because it lets every American know how climate change affects their community – or even their own backyard," Ticora Jones, chief science officer at NRDC, said in a statement.

"Cutting federal climate research won't eliminate threats from intense heat waves, unprecedented hurricanes, and devastating flooding," she added. "It will just make our nation far less able to prepare for them."   

What's being done about attacks on climate science?

With the federal government taking an adversarial approach to climate science, renewable energy, and environmental regulation, it will take a team of other actors working in concert to ensure progression toward a clean-energy future.

Those who want to see efforts like these preserved can use their voice by voting for pro-climate candidates and advocating for those in office now to protect these efforts. 

In addition to advocating for political action, you can make a difference by driving an EV, installing solar panels on your home, or filling your yard with native plants.      

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