USDA Orders Removal of Climate Change Mentions from Public Websites
By Julio Gonzaga
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has directed its officials to scrub content related to climate change from its public websites. This directive, which came to light through internal emails obtained by ABC News, requires all references to climate change to be identified, archived, or unpublished by the close of business on the day the order was issued.
According to the directive, USDA Director of Digital Communications Peter Rhee outlined the process in an email to staff, stating, “Identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change.” The email further instructed web managers to track related content in a spreadsheet for review by the department’s Office of Communications (OC). This process was given a tight deadline, with Rhee noting, “OC will review the submitted materials and make determinations on next steps.”
The urgency of this request was emphasized in communications to website managers at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), where staff were told to comply with these instructions by 3 p.m. ET on the same day. The emails reveal a systematic approach to categorize the content into three levels of urgency, with “Tier 1” being pages entirely dedicated to climate change, “Tier 2” for pages where climate change is significantly discussed, and “Tier 3” for content where it is mentioned in passing.
This directive follows a series of executive orders by President Donald Trump, which have reversed key climate policies, including the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, expansion of fossil fuel production, and the weakening of environmental protections. Critics of these actions argue that such moves not only deny the reality of climate change but also threaten to accelerate it, potentially harming vulnerable communities the most.
A USDA webpage from 2022, which was to be affected by this order, had previously stated, “Producers, ranchers, forest landowners, and communities across the country are facing challenges posed by the effects of climate change. Some of these effects are familiar but occurring more frequently or intensely while others are new and unprecedented.” This underscores the USDA’s previous acknowledgment of climate change as a significant factor affecting agriculture and natural resources management.
As of now, USDA officials have not responded to requests for comment on this directive. However, the implications of this policy shift could be far-reaching, influencing how climate change is addressed in one of the sectors most visibly affected by it.
AP