Science Under Siege | Legal Planet

"On January 25, Reuters reported that EPA had been ordered to pull down its climate change page. That didn’t end up happening, but all use of social media was banned and some documents were axed, such as an FAQ about the scientific consensus. Meanwhile, data on international carbon emissions has vanished from the State Department page. For the past decade, the End of Term project has made an effort to create an archive of government information before presidential transitions. Fears of a broader information purge have now prompted a massive document request under the Freedom of Information Act, along with private attempts to harvest data on climate change and energy to preserve it on the other sites.

Perhaps even more of a concern, the Trump transition team ordered government researchers to submit papers for internal review before circulating or submitting them to journals. The head of communications for the transition team told NPR that research will have to pass a vetting process before release 'so that the voice coming from the EPA is one that’s going to reflect the new administration.' He wouldn’t commit himself on whether this internal censorship would be a permanent requirement. This policy contradicts the agency’s current scientific integrity policy, which bans 'all EPA employees, including scientists, managers and other Agency leadership from suppressing, altering, or otherwise impeding the timely release of scientific findings or conclusions.' But it remains to be seen whether the current scientific integrity policy will survive under the new regime."