Trump's EPA destroys vital climate data web site on eve of Climate March

Mark Sumner

Daily Kos Staff

Saturday April 29, 2017 · 3:32 PM PDT

2017/04/29 · 15:32

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 29: People march from the U.S. Capitol to the White House for the People's Climate Movement to protest President Donald Trump's enviromental policies April 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators across the country are gathering to demand a clean energy economy. (Photo by Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)

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When scientists began frantically copying climate data against the possibility that an EPA website would no longer provide access, it seemed a bit ridiculous. Even for a regime stocked with climate change deniers, removing the site seemed just too blatant, too mustache-twirling stock villainous, to be real. And in fact, just five days ago, the EPA’s spokesman responded to stories that the site was going away.

“Long story short, this story was a hoax,” agency spokesman J.P. Freire told me. “We have not had any conversations at EPA about taking down the website.” …

As it turns out, climate change isn’t a hoax, but the idea that the Trump regime can be trusted on anything is absolutely a hoax.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday evening that its website would be “undergoing changes” to better represent the new direction the agency is taking, triggering the removal of several agency websites containing detailed climate data and scientific information.

One of the websites that appeared to be gone had been cited to challenge statements made by the EPA’s new administrator, Scott Pruitt. Another provided detailed information on the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, including fact sheets about greenhouse gas emissions on the state and local levels and how different demographic groups were affected by such emissions.

Even as marchers were gathering to show the White House that Americans are serious about climate change, the Trump White House was carrying out a giant slap in the face of public trust, government transparency, and scientific truth.

A closer look at some of the earlier statements from EPA spokesman Freire show that this attack on science was carefully timed as a sneer at the marchers.

Freire says the agency posted a “corrective” message visible to visitors to the open data site, advising that its data “will continue to be available on April 28, 2017” — though the message offers no word about what could happen starting a day later.

What happened one day later? Now we know.

The change was approved by [Scott] Pruitt, according to an individual familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, to avoid a conflict between the site’s content and the policies the administration is now pursuing. …

The EPA’s extensive climate change website now redirects to a page that says “this page is being updated” and that “we are currently updating our website to reflect EPA’s priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Administrator Pruitt.”

Though the current page also contains a link to an archive of the old page, that archive hasn’t be updated since Trump’s inauguration. Considering the effort Pruitt has already made to kick science and scientists in the teeth, don’t expect that link to remain when the Trump EPA is done with their “updates.”

Trump's EPA destroys vital climate data web site on eve of Climate March

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