Brace yourself. The Trump administration is wasting no time in refocusing the office’s efforts away from climate change and its devastating effects. Any mention of the phenomenon was scrubbed from the official White House website minutes after Donald Trump was sworn in as the new U.S. president. A former page dedicated solely to climate change was deleted and now an unsettling “American First Energy Plan,” which promises to lift restrictions on industries hellbent on destroying the environment, takes its place.
The link to the page dedicated to climate change is now broken and now reroutes to a newsletter landing page, but Wayback Machine offers a grim reminder of a time – just days ago – when the U.S. government did, in fact, recognize scientific fact as truth. Motherboard first noticed the changes, which took place moments after the transition of power.
Climate change is no longer mentioned as a “Top Issue” on the site. Instead, it is not mentioned at all.
The White House website has flipped. Among other things, Obama's climate change pages are gone https://t.co/8bQeW5s0u8 #inauguration pic.twitter.com/tAkSjLd2Ui
— Brian L Kahn (@blkahn) January 20, 2017
Now, the closest thing to environmental commentary on the website is mention of an “American First Energy Plan.” Just reading the plans of what’s to come will send chills down your spine:
For too long, we’ve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry. President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the next 7 years.
For now, the Environmental Protection Agency’s website still recognizes climate change as a thing that exists – but, who knows for how long. It seems the frantic, post-election actions of the scientists who were quickly backing up climate change data in the event that the new administration would set its sights on destroying any and all progress on remedying the pressing issue was a wise move.
Via TechCrunch
Images via Wayback Machine (screenshot)
