The mad dash to protect environmental data from Donald Trump - The Verge

"With Donald Trump stepping back into office, advocates are warning that access to important environmental and public health datasets could be at risk.

Information about climate change vanished from federal websites under Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change “a hoax.” Now, federal agencies could face deep staff and budget cuts overseen by Trump cronies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The proposed cuts not only threaten what kind of data the government shares but also whether it can collect and organize it at all....

One key resource that could languish under the Trump administration is the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, EJScreen. 

This tool helps urban planners, people who work in health and education, and community advocates understand whether certain populations are disproportionately impacted by smog, toxic waste, or other hazards in a specific area. The EPA uses EJScreen in its own environmental assessments and permitting decisions, while nonprofits use it for grant applications.

Even if it stays online, the tool is not as useful without constant upkeep....

Much of the environmental data included in EJScreen is collected by the EPA itself. The EPA isn’t likely to abandon its air quality monitors anytime soon, but Project 2025 — a conservative roadmap for the second Trump administration — proposes eliminating the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights that manages the tool...."