đź•’ Last updated on August 11, 2025
Government environmental websites are being altered or taken down at a much faster pace in President Trump’s second term compared to his first. A recent report by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) shows a dramatic increase in changes, with many of them involving the removal of important information from public view.
Big jump in website changes compared to the first term
Trump’s first 100 days in office saw 371 major modifications to government environmental webpages, according to EDGI. In the same period of his current term, that number has jumped to 632—around 70% more.
This rise happened even though EDGI had fewer volunteers and monitored far fewer pages this time around. In 2017, the group kept watch over more than 25,000 pages. This year, they tracked only about 4,400. Despite this reduced monitoring, the number of major changes still rose sharply.
The report defines a “significant change” as one that alters the content, focus, or key links on a webpage in a way that changes how the public can access or understand information.
Focus on removing environmental justice and equity content.
One of the most noticeable differences in the second term is the level of removal related to environmental justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content. Environmental justice is the principle that everyone—no matter their race, income, or background—should have the right to a healthy environment and an equal voice in decisions affecting it.
Soon after taking office this year, the administration signed an order eliminating programs, offices, and positions connected to both environmental justice and DEI. Many online resources tied to these issues disappeared quickly after that.
The Council on Environmental Quality’s “Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool” was one of the first to be taken offline. Within a month, nine similar tools across other agencies were also removed. These tools were designed to help identify disadvantaged communities and ensure they received a fair share of the benefits from climate-related programs—a goal set during the previous administration.
According to EDGI’s findings, these removals mark a bigger and bolder push compared to the first term. In the first Trump administration, such large-scale deletion of a specific category of content was not seen. This term, the removals are both broader and more targeted.
Climate change websites were also affected.
The EDGI report shows that climate change content has also been altered or removed, although less systematically than environmental justice and DEI materials. Some sites remain accessible, while others have been shut down or have stopped publishing updates.
The federal government’s main climate change research site, globalchange.gov, was shut down. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency’s main climate change website is still online and continues to offer scientific data and tips for individual action.
🚢 Tariff wave hits U.S. — 375% duties cripple imports, average rates soar to 17%
A significant change came this summer when climate.gov, a well-known site run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), stopped publishing new content. This decision followed the termination of its 10-member staff. Before this change, the site provided information on shifting weather patterns, drought conditions, and greenhouse gas emissions, and it attracted nearly one million visitors every month.
These actions have led to concerns about the loss of easy public access to trustworthy environmental data. Government websites are often the primary source of such information for citizens, schools, and researchers. When content disappears or is changed, the public’s ability to understand and respond to environmental issues can be affected.
EDGI notes that there is little formal oversight of how administrations manage federal websites. This means that major changes, including complete removal of certain topics, can happen quickly and without public notice. The group says that protecting this information is vital, as it plays a key role in public participation and informed decision-making.