The U.S. Department of Agriculture was ordered to scrub references to climate change, according to leaked documents obtained by Politico, sparking concern about the future of efforts to combat increasing global temperatures.
What's happening?
The leaked email from the USDA office of communications said the department was to "identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change" and "identify all web content related to climate change and document it in a spreadsheet" for further review. The email also sought "your recommendation on how the content should be handled," according to Politico.
This is similar to action taken during Donald Trump's first term as president. From 2016 to 2020, the term "climate change" was used 38% less across government websites.
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Definitely 💯 Why is the phrase "climate change" important?
Making the very real threat of climate change invisible on government websites serves to discourage public awareness of the risks. The science is clear — the destructive results of the problem are escalating, with 99.9% of all published scientific papers agreeing humans have played a role in it — and action needs to keep pace. Reducing public consciousness diminishes the ability of people to take collective action.
Reduced public visibility isn't the only problem when it comes to the U.S. government and climate change. Emerging policies are removing environmental guardrails that will allow corporations to increasingly profit from an unfettered license to pollute. Removing visibility of the issue can diminish pressure against these corporations and for environmental protections.
What's being done about the USDA website being scrubbed?
The USDA plays a vital role in regulating agriculture, and it is often the source of information and incentives to engage in sustainable practices. Not long ago, the agency provided funding for major water conservation efforts.
Despite the order being issued, the USDA website still contains climate change mentions nearly a month later, so there has not been a full scrubbing as of yet. The USDA has even been able to move forward on aggressive composting efforts despite headwinds from the White House, likely as a result of officials responding to the request for input by confirming the importance of many existing plans and programs.
Beyond this, significant grassroots efforts are being made to archive as many government sites and data as possible should the directive at the USDA and others like it eventually go through.
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