The Environmental Protection Agency has removed several references to climate change and the use of renewable energy, according to a report from the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative.
The group notes that in April, the EPA began removing the phrase "climate change" from its website to "reflect the agency's new direction under President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt," according to a statement from the agency.
"Large portions of climate resources that were formerly found on the previous website have not been returned, and thus have ultimately been removed from the current EPA website," EDGI's Toly Rinberg notes in the group's blog post on the subject.
The report shows that the EPA removed a 380-webpage section titled "Climate and Energy Resources for State, Local, and Tribal Governments," which details a support program for energy efficiency and climate change policy, and replaced it with a 175-webpage source titled "Energy Resources for State, Local, and Tribal Governments," which only describes energy policy and resources.
"The new website's main page makes no mention of 'climate,' unlike the previous main page, which contained the word 'climate' 17 times within the body of the page," the report notes.
The EDGI concludes that "the continued removal of Web content makes it more difficult for the public and for state, local, and tribal governments to access climate-related Web resources. Moreover, without clear notice from the EPA explaining its decision to remove information and resources, website users may be confused as to why the removals were necessary: was the removed content inaccurate or is there some other kind of justified change in priority or policy?
"This lack of transparency in the EPA's website overhaul process harms the public's understanding of our government's operations and is a concerning indicator for the possible future mishandling of Web resources to come."