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EPA Website Removes Climate Science Site From Public View After Two Decades (washingtonpost.com)

Last week there were reports that the EPA climate change website was set to be taken down, though later the EPA denied that. On Friday evening, however, the Environmental Protection Agency announced 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 (paywalled; alternative source). From a report on The Washington Post: 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. The changes came less than 24 hours before thousands of protesters were set to march in Washington and around the country in support of political action to push back against the Trump administration's rollbacks of former president Barack Obama's climate policies.

23 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. La Niña is about to bite us in the arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Unless the swings we are seeing in the cycle of El Niño and La Niña are not really occurring Dear Donald is about to be the president who will be in office at the start of the greatest climate caused disaster in recorded history. The past 10 years have seen unprecedented drought on the the West Coast now we are about to see a cyclical change that could very well make a huge portion of the Gulf coast and the Redneck Riviera uninhabitable. There are area of the low lying Gulf coast that could easily be flooded multiple time by hurricane storm surges.

    Watch out we are in for a kick in the ass from mother nature and the financial and human cost could make the dust bowl of dirty thirties look like good times. But then again I am sure somehow Obama and Hillary will be blamed for what is about to occur. Removing science from the equation and allowing politics to dictate what information is available is par for the course for that jackass and bunch of morons left of the Republican "blow you Jack, I'm alright" assholes currently running the show. If Lincoln was a dictator then what these assholes are about is far worse, at least real Republicans do not endorse or engage in scientific censorship and in so doing marginalize sectors of the populace.

    The US is at best 2 pay periods away from complete anarchy and if an area as full of rednecks as the Gulf coast suddenly becomes a disaster caused everyman for himself war zone no one will not be able to stop the ensuing chaos.

    1. Re:La Niña is about to bite us in the arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The post you responded to would have been easily refuted with a rational argument, but you felt the need to make up statements the poster never said and responded to those instead.

      Do you just not see how that makes you look as childishly reactionary as the person you were responding to?

  2. Not surprising by quonset · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Trumper has flip flopped and lied about everything which has come out of his mouth so this shouldn't surprise anyone. Here's what he said only a week ago:

    "Rigorous science is critical to my administration's efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection."

    "My administration is committed to advancing scientific research that leads to a better understanding of our environment and of environmental risks," Trump said. "As we do so, we should remember that rigorous science depends not on ideology, but on a spirit of honest inquiry and robust debate.

    What better way to advance scientific research and allow for honest inquiry and robust debate than to wipe from the record, the very research one claims to support.

    P.S. He had no problem claiming climate change as the reason he needed to build a sea wall around his Irish golf course:

    "If the predictions of an increase in sea level rise as a result of global warming prove correct, however, it is likely that there will be a corresponding increase in coastal erosion rates not just in Doughmore Bay but around much of the coastline of Ireland. In our view, it could reasonably be expected that the rate of sea level rise might become twice of that presently occurring. ... As a result, we would expect the rate of dune recession to increase."

    1. Re:Not surprising by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I guess he means alternative science.

      Every American should be worried about this. Aside from the health damage at a time when healthcare is threatened, and aside from the environmental damage, it's going to make it hard for America to do trade deals and export goods.

      Just because Trump thinks it's a Chinese conspiracy, doesn't mean that, for example, the EU will just ignore it. If the US emits more pollution, low tariff trade deals will be impossible.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Not surprising by Patent+Lover · · Score: 5, Informative

      Said he was going to have the US withdraw from NAFTA: didn't do it. Said he was going have the US withdraw from NATO: didn't do it. Said he was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it: now he wants US taxpayers to pay for it. Said he was going to repeal and replace the ACA with something better that covers everybody: didn't do it. Said he's going to bring back coal jobs: simply can't happen, though he did sign an executive order allowing coal to pollute streams, hurray. Said he wasn't going to have time to play golf like Obama: already played 16 days worth. Said he was going to destroy ISIS in the first 30 days: didn't do it. Said he wasn't going to settle the Trump University lawsuit: settled. Said he was going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement: didn't do it. I'm sure there are more.

    3. Re:Not surprising by sir-gold · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nothing he says is inconsistent, you just have to read between the lines.

      For example, when he says "a better understanding of our environment and of environmental risks", what he really means is "the 'current' understanding disagrees with my personal beliefs and desires, therefore, the problem must be the 'current' understanding, so we need a 'better' one"

    4. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If I had a dollar for every time Trump said "Only I can / understand X!" where X is anything that is a current social, economic, or political problem, I would be very rich indeed.

      Now Trump is saying "X is harder than I thought" more often than not. It seems that items he understood better than the rest of the world are actually hard, and he's just finding out.

      There is a scientific basis for this, it is called the Dunning Kruger effect. The short version is, "if you don't know anything about it, your confidence in your statements and actions are high". So we have a President that goes in swinging his fists, and winds up making the situation worse.

      The EPA measurements are not privately funded, they are paid for with your tax dollars. As they are not part of a national security agenda, withholding that data is denying your the fruits of your tax payments.

      An analogy would be if Trump decided to close a the National Parks permanently for public visitation, only permitting his hand-picked cadre visitation rights. Another analogy would be him "withholding tax preparation information" from tax payers that didn't agree with his agenda (but of course, not withholding on tax prosecution).

      We are going to live with the impact of global warming, whether that impact is better or worse than our projected expectations. By pulling this information offline, Trump's directives are for us to live with the impact in the blind. It is as if to "solve the traffic problem" we banned all radio broadcast of traffic accidents and freeway slowdowns.

      I hope Trump supporters realize that they are losing access to the science they have purchased. Science can be a tricky field, where one can make mistakes in understanding what is behind an observation; but, closing one's eyes to observation is not going to advance any field. What did Trump give in return for taking your paid-for observations away from you?

  3. Liberal Censorship! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Those pesky liberals *want* you to think CO2 is rising, they *want* you to believe the earth if getting hotter, they even dare to suggest it's man-made!

    But this is all a theory. Respect my alternative facts!

    Fact, it's getting colder, due to the lack of CO2 caused by too many trees eating all our CO2!

    There's more ice than ever before! Look at all that ice off Newfoundland, more icebergs than ever before! How is that possible if it isn't colder? Fact!

    President elected by biggest majority ever, Donald J Trump, will make America great again!

  4. Mirrors by hackertourist · · Score: 5, Informative

    we're lucky this got announced early, so there have been efforts to save this data:

    Github repo

    list of mirrors

    another one

    more

    even more

  5. Re:I hear we may get a data dump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    A list of people directed to disclose the datasets they have been refusing FOIA on under the Obama administration.

    The datasets are public and downloadable. The FOIA thing was when Lamar Smith went on a witch hunt and demanded the emails of all scientists at the agency. Smith machine gunned NOAA with a flood of FOIA requests, which can be effectively used in denial of service attacks on government agencies. http://harvardpolitics.com/cul...

  6. Re:CO2 levels are falling by peragrin · · Score: 4, Funny

    true, but then again 100 million years ago the average temperature was significantly hotter, and the ocean levels were higher too.

    as the northern artic passages open up think how much the sea level will rise. a mere 6 feet floods, New york, Boston, New orleans (again) Washington Dc, Atlanta, etc.

    All those liberal will then have to move someplace dry and once conservative areas will suddenly become liberal.

    What will conservatives do then? Protect the climate now to prevent the flood of liberals into your area. /s

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  7. Re:CO2 levels are falling by religionofpeas · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Then, as nature has done it before, who guarantees that it's not nature that's doing it now (raising the CO2 levels)?

    Simple. Look at how much fossil fuels we've burned in the last century, and calculate how much CO2 that would have produced. Then measure the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Notice how the first number is 2 times bigger than the second.

  8. belief is irrelevent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What you or I believe is irrelevent. The facts are the facts and nature will take its course regardless of what anyone believes.

    The folks who have the expertise in climate science have the data and every one of THEIR predictions have com true. See, climate scientists discovered the link between fossil fuel burning and increasing temps back in the 1980s. Aside from tweets to rates, their predictions are spot on.

    But, the fossil fuel industry - mostly coal - terrified of losing business, lobbied and ran advertisements and had pundits distribute misinformation to confuse the public.
    And we have "skeptic's" - folks who know nothing about the issue other than the nonsense they see on TV or read on some website written by a pundit - global warming creates a LOT of web traffic ($$$$).
    Considering that half the people in the USA think there is even doubt has shown how effective the fossil fuel industry's propaganda is.

    The fossil fuel industry has won.

    1. Re:belief is irrelevent by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

      See, climate scientists discovered the link between fossil fuel burning and increasing temps back in the 1980s.
      You mean around 1880, I think. Not 1980.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  9. Re:Its become too political by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It has become politicized, because strong business interests are resisting acceptance of scientific consensus. This is nothing unusual. Business will always dispute facts that can lead to regulation costing them money. They will even claim that their cynical twisting of the facts is mandatory, because they have a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value.

    Climate change is complicated, and no serious scientist will claim they know exactly where it is leading. What is universal among climate scientists is that human induced climate change has and is occurring. There are tentative conclusions about some of its effects, and warnings that failing to act to reduce human induced climate change risks truly catastrophic consequences. If the worst happens, it may not be for 100 years, but the earlier action is taken, the lower the cost of remediation is likely to be. The commonly held view is that it is irresponsible, and totally unfair to future generations, to dodge taking prudent steps because it will cost some businesses money.

  10. Re:Washington Post article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I know right! Unless it's on Alex Jones, Rence, or Time Cube Guy's website, it's just more of those liberal fact based hit pieces!

  11. Re:Its become too political by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >That's not science when even believers begin to doubt the data.

    Yes, that is exactly science. Doubting your own premises, your data sources, and your conclusions -- all of this combines into the building of the large experimental knowledge base that was being developed before many of us were born. If there were only "believers", there beliefs would be political or religious or some other form of bullshit. Remove yourself from belief, doubt your own conclusions, and develop tests to further understand where your conclusions went wrong. Science!

  12. They removed it because it's useless by quantaman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After all, who needs data when you have ideology?

    --
    I stole this Sig
  13. Making sure 'wrong' opinions are downvoted by marcuz · · Score: 2

    The level of downvoting in this thread is outragous!

  14. Re:So he did nothing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    So he did nothing?

    Read more carefully:

    he has done little to nothing of what he said he was going to do, none of it in any way close to exactly how he said he was going to do it, and everything he has done, he has compulsively lied about due to his tendency for braggadocio and irresponsibility.

    Pretty much says he has done things, but failed to do it as he said he would, and lied about it.

    If I had wanted to say he had done nothing, I could have said that, but no, I merely stated he had done little to nothing, and none of it was exactly how he said he was going to do it, and I certainly wouldn't have said that he has lied about everything he has done if he had nothing.

    Stopped chemical weapons being used in Syria

    Lied about stopping Chemical weapons being used in Syria, lied about his wasteful airstrike on an airport that was back in operation almost immediately, and certainly did not fulfill his promises on it. In reality, the Syrian Civil War is still a humanitarian crisis, and the use of Chemical weapons, no matter how deplorable they are, is only a small fraction of the tragedy.

    And of course, Trump claimed he would solve the problem, which he hasn't, making his failure a lie. That he had previously denounced such missile strikes as he ordered as theater only harms your defense of him.

    Increased S&P 500 by 5% (Real money gained by middle class)

    Not directly attributed to anything he did, so...huh Thanks for showing the braggadocio though...the trend was already up and really, trying to assert it is real money gained by middle class? Ah, lies.

    Unemployment claims at a 17 year low

    A fuller perspective shows the lie.

    Unemployment claims have been dropping steadily. Attributing it to Trump is like claiming that he put out a fire that was already mostly extinguished. Of course, he also claimed the same employment numbers were lies before relying on them for his own benefit, so there's another broken word of his. You really can't win with this, either Trump takes responsibility and admits that the complaints he made about unemployment statistics were false, or Trump has still left 90 million Americans without a job.

    Illegal immigration drop by 75-90% depending on your source

    Or you could at that some more. That isn't even getting into his already demonstrated lie about a Wall, his executive order, and his false sanctuary cities claims. Not to mention the toddlers and senior citizens added to his dangerous criminal list.

    His handling of that has been yet another cavalcade of deceits, failure, and incompetence.

    Supreme court nomination everyone agrees is good

    Well, there's a lie. Your hyperbole betrays you. All it took is one.

    There are others. 45 in the Senate alone.

    Thats quite a bit for 3 months.

    That's quite a bit of lies for 5 Sentences. No wonder Trump is your hero

    If you still claim he did nothing, then y

  15. Re:So he did nothing? by sir-gold · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I could reduce unemployment claims to zero overnight, it's easy. Just make everyone ineligible for unemployment and POOF, no more claims.
    This is why unemployment claims are a terrible measure of actual unemployment level, because it ignores everyone who doesn't (or can't) file a claim.
    If the number of claims drops, does it mean less people are unemployed, or does it just mean less people are trying to claim it?

    As far as the S&P goes, Trump has no control over that, and it's only a sign that corporations are seeing a far more corporate-friendly government. It also benefits the upper class far more than the middle class (the majority of capital gains are claimed by people with incomes above 200k/year)

    I will give him credit for the reduction in immigration, but it's questionable if that is actually a good thing. Remember, EVERY person in America (other than the native americans) is either an immigrant or the descendant of an immigrant. If they had done something like this 150 years ago, most of us probably wouldn't exist. To say "I hate immigrants" is no different than saying "I hate my great grandparents".

  16. Re: Its become too political by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 2

    The right conclusion is to isolate and exclude from the discussion those who slap an 'ist' suffix on the name they call their opponents.

    A wise old man once said "isms are schisms."

  17. Re:Washington Post article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Last time I checked, Berkley is a University in one city. They don't represent "Liberls" as much as the toothless wonders in West Virginia represent "Conservatives."