Researchers initially developed the Federal Environmental Web Tracker to document similar changes during the first Trump administration, and they resurrected the tool this week. It’s basically a big spreadsheet that includes links to webpages that are either down completely or have had significant changes made since Trump stepped back into office.
By early February, just a couple weeks or so after Trump stepped into office, FEMA was already deleting the term “climate” from its website. As of this morning, the Federal Environmental Web Tracker includes more than 200 entries for federal webpages that have been altered. It’ll be updated weekly by the nonprofit group that made it, called the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI).
The Federal Environmental Web Tracker includes more than 200 entries for federal webpages that have been altered
Some of the changes are subtle — like an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) webpage that shares data on pollution from power plants being renamed “Power Sector Data” instead of “Power Sector Emissions Data.” The data’s still there, and the change in the title might help that information stay online by flying under the radar, as Trump administration officials arbitrarily yank stuff they consider taboo.
But there are also entire webpages or sections of content that have vanished. Much of that content relates to the ways that certain communities are disproportionately affected by climate change and pollution because of poverty or the history of segregation and racism in the US. EPA pages on climate change, human health, and children’s health, for example, no longer include links to information about “equity.”
Advocates are already taking action to try to bring resources back online. Organic farmers filed suit against the Trump administration last week for removing content they rely on to help them grow crops, alleging that the US Department of Agriculture’s sudden removal of key online resources broke federal law. It follows a similar lawsuit filed by doctors that led to some federal webpages on health disparities being restored.