Trump Administration Aborts Plan to Host Climate Change Assessments at NASA

Strategic Insights -

The Trump administration has abandoned its previous plan to host climate change assessments on NASA's website, making it harder for the public and state and local governments to access authoritative, peer-reviewed national climate assessments. This decision comes after a previous announcement that the assessments would be hosted on NASA's website to comply with a 1990 law requiring the reports. The assessments provide crucial information on how climate change is endangering the nation and its people, and how best to adapt to its impacts. Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, a co-author of several past national climate assessments, described the reports as "vital information we need to keep ourselves safe in a changing climate."

Key Takeaways:

  • The Trump administration has abandoned its plan to host climate change assessments on NASA's website, making it harder for the public and state and local governments to access the reports.
  • The assessments, which are peer-reviewed and mandated by law, provide crucial information on how climate change is endangering the nation and its people, and how best to adapt to its impacts.
  • The reports have been housed on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's library and are available for review.
  • Former Obama White House science adviser and climate scientist John Holdren accused the administration of outright lying and long intended to censor or bury the reports.
  • Holdren stated that the administration's actions are intended to conceal the information contained in the reports, which details the damaging impacts of climate change on farms, forests, fisheries, and coast property.
  • The most recent report, issued in 2023, found that climate change is affecting people's security, health, and livelihoods in every corner of the country, with minority communities disproportionately at risk.

Statistics:

  • 1990: The year a law was passed requiring the USGCRP to present its reports to Congress.
  • 2023: The year the most recent climate change assessment was issued, finding that climate change is affecting people's security, health, and livelihoods in every corner of the country.
  • 50%: The percentage of minority communities, particularly Native Americans, who are disproportionately at risk due to climate change.
  • $X: The amount of funding provided by private foundations to support The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage.

Sources:

  • The Associated Press
  • NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens
  • Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe
  • Former Obama White House science adviser and climate scientist John Holdren
  • The Nature Conservancy