One of the most frightening aspects of the Trump administration’s gutting of the federal government is the war on science and knowledge.
Since January, the White House has taken a chain saw to a huge swath of scientific research, particularly work that could advance our understanding of public health, racial disparities, LGBTQ+ communities and climate change.
The administration last week sent an email to about 400 mostly volunteer researchers of the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment letting them know they were “released” from their roles.
The action followed earlier cuts to funding and technical staffing for the report, which is produced every four years so that communities can better prepare for the impacts of global climate change. The first report was published in 2000 and the sixth edition was slated for early 2028.
Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, was one of the researchers released from the assessment work.
Ebi has been an author on all six of the National Climate Assessments. She said she volunteers her time on the project because “it’s important for people to understand the current state of knowledge, so that decisions are informed by the current understanding of the speed of climate change, the extent to which it’s expected to change over coming decades, and what it means for a whole range of sectors.”
Unlike a report in a scientific journal, the National Climate Assessment is intentionally designed to be accessible for a lay person to read and to use. Information is presented in clear language, with accompanying graphics and sources.
Ebi said research like the National Climate Assessment helps communities understand the adaptations needed to weather climate change.
One key message in the 2023 report’s section on the impacts of climate change on the Northwest notes that communities of color, tribes and rural communities are exposed to disproportionate effects due to “ongoing systemic oppression.”
For example, prior research in the assessment found previously redlined areas are hotter than surrounding areas, a phenomenon I wrote about after the devastating 2021 Northwest heat dome, due to fewer trees, different building materials and houses that are closer together, Ebi said. She said that information led to a big tree planting program in Seattle, a solution that while not an immediate fix, will yield benefits over time.
On Friday, two scientific groups said they would publish work intended for the assessment in their journals, with the authors’ permission. But Ebi said an effort like that would not likely have the same impact or reach as the U.S. government’s climate assessment, which has the weight of the federal government behind it plus the guidance of the project’s now-dismissed technical support unit, which ensured all the coordination and scientific reviews happened for the report.
While scientific research might seem abstract or wonky, the differences in heat distribution are a good illustration of the real-world utility of reliable knowledge and data.
Without scientific knowledge, we are left much less prepared to implement changes needed to protect the most vulnerable from an array of harms.
Since Trump took office, the administration has fired thousands of scientists, canceled billions in research grants and gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Services, among a number of other actions attacking scientific knowledge.
Worse, the cuts have targeted the most vulnerable populations, as part of the administration’s campaign to eliminate what it considers to be diversity, equity and inclusion from the federal government.
An April 10 analysis by the journal Nature found that of the 770 research grants canceled by the National Institutes of Health, 29% were related to studying HIV and AIDS and 24% were related to studying trans health. More than half the NIH projects focused on LGBTQ+ communities were canceled. Nature said overall, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities was the most targeted for cuts.
The Environmental Protection Agency canceled more than 400 environmental justice grants totaling more than $1.7 billion and the Trump administration shuttered the Office of Environmental Justice and the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity, Stateline reported.
Despite the politicization of science that is happening now, the environment does not distinguish between blue states and red states, Ebi said.
In fact, she noted, “If you look across the 50 states, of which states have more exposure to weather and climate related hazards, it’s the Republican states that have more exposure to hazards.”
These scientific setbacks may last much longer than this administration’s term. With scientists losing their funding and their jobs, Ebi said, “now I’m in a situation where all the federal scientists I’ve worked with over the last 30 years are gone, and they’re not coming back. And I don’t know how programs are going to be rebuilt.”
The most marginalized will suffer the most.
“It’s very difficult to try and take decisions when you don’t have information to inform those decisions,” Ebi said.
