Science and Environmental Justice

Every new administration makes updates and changes to publicly available web sites. Presidential administrations have different appointed officials, different priorities, and different language for addressing specific issues. But these changes can pose a risk to the public’s ability to find critical information and advocate for their own health and safety.

From 2017 to 2021, observers tracked more than 1,400 changes to the language and available information on federal web sites—targeting information relating to climate science, environmental justice, endangered species, and air and water pollution. The new administration is likely to reduce the amount of information available to the public on these and other topics.

The work done by experts at federal agencies is done on behalf of the broader public and must be accessible. It’s the people’s data, and it belongs to all of us. The Union of Concerned Scientists and other civil society organizations will work to preserve federal web pages, data, reports, guidance documents, and other materials for the record. UCS will continue to update this page regularly with links to data and web content removed from federal websites, whether hosted by UCS or by other organizations. If you’re a federal scientist, contractor, or employee, you can find resources for protecting yourself and your work here.