Press Coverage

Check out our recent coverage highlights, as well as EDGI member op-eds. Full coverage of EDGI is documented below.

Recent Highlights

America's digital infrastructure belongs to you
America's digital infrastructure belongs to you

COMMENTARY | We’ve seen unprecedented attacks on our nation’s federal digital infrastructure, from removing or restricting datasets and tools, to taking websites offline, to widespread layoffs.
Nextgov.com Nextgov.com
Trump officials removed web tools that interpret environmental data. Volunteers are racing to rebuild them
Trump officials removed web tools that interpret environmental data. Volunteers are racing to rebuild them

Web tools help scientists understand the impact of pollutants, climate change, and infrastructure decay on the country's most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
www.wbur.org www.wbur.org
Can We Trust Our Government to Safeguard Vital Research Data? Meet the Digital Archivists Battling to Keep Information Accessible!
Can We Trust Our Government to Safeguard Vital Research Data? Meet the Digital Archivists Battling to Keep Information Accessible!

Through clever usage of APIs, the Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School has created an archive of Data.gov, home to 311,000 public datasets
IEEE Spectrum IEEE Spectrum

 

Trump National Security Officials: Add NOAA to the Chat for Climate Literacy
Trump National Security Officials: Add NOAA to the Chat for Climate Literacy

Image of the cover of the 2024 Climate Literacy Guide
The Equation The Equation
Trump’s DEI Data Purge - CNN One Thing - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Trump’s DEI Data Purge - CNN One Thing - Podcast on CNN Podcasts

As datasets and web pages across the federal government disappear to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, a coalition of concerned citizens is rushing to preserve information and access. We talk to one of the researchers behind the Data Rescue Project about how they're doing that work and how federal data purges could impact…
CNN CNN
Researchers Rush to Save US Government Data on Trans Youth—Before It Disappears
Researchers Rush to Save US Government Data on Trans Youth—Before It Disappears

In the face of the Trump administration's anti-trans efforts, researchers and volunteers around the world are backing up federally-funded studies, and vowing to keep the resources online.
WIRED WIRED
The Volunteer Data Hoarders Resisting Trump’s Purge
The Volunteer Data Hoarders Resisting Trump’s Purge

Can librarians and guerrilla archivists save the country’s files from DOGE?
The New Yorker The New Yorker
In Trump's new purge of climate language, even 'resilience' isn't safe
In Trump's new purge of climate language, even 'resilience' isn't safe

"You really cannot address a problem that you can’t identify."
Grist Grist
Saving U.S. Climate and Environmental Data Before It Goes Away
Saving U.S. Climate and Environmental Data Before It Goes Away

Some 2,000 records went missing from government data sets after the Trump administration took office in January. Canadian geographer Eric Nost talks about the work he and colleagues are doing to archive data related to climate and the environment while it is still accessible.
Yale E360 Yale E360
The Data Heroes Racing To Save Environmental Data From The Trump Purge
The Data Heroes Racing To Save Environmental Data From The Trump Purge

As the Trump administration moves to alter or remove key federal datasets, a coalition is scrambling to rescue and preserve critical before it disappears.
Forbes Forbes
Donald Trump wants to delete ‘climate’ from federal websites — here’s how you can track the changes
Donald Trump wants to delete ‘climate’ from federal websites — here’s how you can track the changes

The database already includes more than 200 altered webpages.
The Verge The Verge
Extended Interview: Mark Graham on Internet Archive’s Work Preserving the Web as Gov’t Sites Go Dark
Extended Interview: Mark Graham on Internet Archive’s Work Preserving the Web as Gov’t Sites Go Dark

Extended interview with Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive. He is also part of the End of Term Archive for federal websites.
Democracy Now! Democracy Now!
Climate Info Purge Case to Test Bounds of Government Records Law
Climate Info Purge Case to Test Bounds of Government Records Law

A recent Freedom of Information Act suit over the purge of climate information from US Department of Agriculture websites offers courts an opportunity to define how government records must be indexed as the Trump administration overhauls agency agendas, scholars say.
news.bloomberglaw.com news.bloomberglaw.com
Trump is gutting environmental data, obscuring climate and pollution risks to the public
Trump is gutting environmental data, obscuring climate and pollution risks to the public

Deleting websites and ignoring scientific data threatens to undo clean air and water regulations
Salon.com Salon.com
Trump attacks climate science and spreads fear among scientists
Trump attacks climate science and spreads fear among scientists

Erasing references to climate change, censoring environmental data and undermining globally recognized agencies... The Trump administration is leading an unprecedented offensive.
Le Monde.fr Le Monde.fr
The ‘Wayback Machine’ is preserving the websites Trump’s White House took down | CNN Business
The ‘Wayback Machine’ is preserving the websites Trump’s White House took down | CNN Business

The White House has ordered thousands of government web pages to be taken down over the past month, leaving virtually no trace of some federal agencies’ policies regarding critical topics such as sexual orientation, January 6 cases and discrimination.
CNN CNN
FEMA’s website started deleting ‘climate change’
FEMA’s website started deleting ‘climate change’

The edits come as the Trump administration takes a wrecking ball to federal agencies.
The Verge The Verge
The scramble to save critical climate data from Trump's war on DEI
The scramble to save critical climate data from Trump's war on DEI

Researchers and activists are archiving websites and data because “policymakers and the public need good information to make the best policy."
Grist Grist
As Trump Administration Purges Climate Data and Web Pages, Research Groups Scramble to Save Information - Inside Climate News
As Trump Administration Purges Climate Data and Web Pages, Research Groups Scramble to Save Information - Inside Climate News

The Trump administration has directed federal agency staff to remove climate references and scientific data from many web pages. Researchers are rushing to archive it.
Inside Climate News Inside Climate News
Scientists brace ‘for the worst’ as Trump purges climate mentions from websites
Scientists brace ‘for the worst’ as Trump purges climate mentions from websites

Trump administration pulling references online ‘won’t make crisis’ stop affecting Americans’ lives, say experts
the Guardian the Guardian
Donald Trump’s data purge has begun 
Donald Trump’s data purge has begun 

Researchers have been archiving government websites for months.
The Verge The Verge
Archivists Work to Identify and Save the Thousands of Datasets Disappearing From Data.gov
Archivists Work to Identify and Save the Thousands of Datasets Disappearing From Data.gov

More than 2,000 datasets have disappeared from data.gov since Trump was inaugurated. But analyzing exactly what happened and where it went is going to take some time.
404 Media 404 Media
Groups archive environmental justice data scrapped by Trump
Groups archive environmental justice data scrapped by Trump

The organizations starting by building a public tool based on the White House's former Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool.
E&E News by POLITICO E&E News by POLITICO
The mad dash to protect environmental data from Donald Trump
The mad dash to protect environmental data from Donald Trump

“I think it’s a much bigger threat this time around.”
The Verge The Verge
What's in a name? Trump set to wipe government language | Context by TRF
What's in a name? Trump set to wipe government language | Context by TRF

From erasing references to climate change to favoring the phrase 'illegal aliens,' Trump may change how we talk about the issues
www.context.news www.context.news
Scientists Scramble to Save Climate Data from Trump—Again
Scientists Scramble to Save Climate Data from Trump—Again

Federal climate databases remained largely intact during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. Scientists say the threats are bigger this time
Scientific American Scientific American
Safeguarding Against A Trump Data Dump
Safeguarding Against A Trump Data Dump

Various organizations race to preserve invaluable scientific, educational, and economic data at potential risk during another Trump administration.
Forbes Forbes
Scientists fear Trump will erase public research, here’s what they are doing | CNN
Scientists fear Trump will erase public research, here’s what they are doing | CNN

The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative is working to preserve scientific data and research on public government websites amid fears that topics like climate change and green energy will be removed from government websites after President-elect Trump takes office. CNN’s René Marsh explains.
CNN CNN
Why Do We Keep Developing in Climate Disaster Zones?
Why Do We Keep Developing in Climate Disaster Zones?

Affordable real estate in the Sun Belt continues to attract buyers under a false sense of security. For experts, the burning question is how—or if—we can build housing ethically in at-risk areas.
Dwell Dwell
Could Trump’s Return Pose a Threat to Climate and Weather Data?
Could Trump’s Return Pose a Threat to Climate and Weather Data?

Project 2025, the conservative playbook, calls for breaking up the federal agency that maintains weather data and collects climate change information.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

 

Recent Op-eds

How to find climate data and science the Trump administration doesn’t want you to see
How to find climate data and science the Trump administration doesn’t want you to see

Several groups are working to preserve webpages, tools and data – some of which have already gone missing from government webpages since the start of the Trump administration.
The Conversation The Conversation
3 ways Trump’s EPA could use the language of science to weaken pollution controls
3 ways Trump’s EPA could use the language of science to weaken pollution controls

For example, the first Trump administration tried to use the principles of transparency to prevent federal agencies from considering major health studies when setting pollution rules.
The Conversation The Conversation
SCOTUS Scrutiny and the Future of Public Commenting
SCOTUS Scrutiny and the Future of Public Commenting

A spate of US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) rulings decided this summer will have dramatic and damaging effects on how federal agencies issue and enforce regulations.
scilight.substack.com scilight.substack.com
Introducing the Public Comments Initiative
Introducing the Public Comments Initiative

Public comments and their impact on scientific integrity in federal rulemaking
scilight.substack.com scilight.substack.com
Summer 2022 – AHA
Summer 2022 – AHA

Read the Perspectives Daily articles published in summer 2022.
AHA AHA
The EPA Is Shuttering its Online Archive: Why that Matters
The EPA Is Shuttering its Online Archive: Why that Matters

Science Network guest blogger Gretchen Gehrke of the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative explains the upcoming discontinuation of the Environmental Protection Agency's online archive--and what this means for the public.
The Equation
How the Biden Administration Can Protect Federal Environmental Information
How the Biden Administration Can Protect Federal Environmental Information

Science Network guest blogger Gretchen Gehrke explains that information on federal websites remains vulnerable to censorship and removal–and to fix that, we need federal web governance policies.
The Equation
Censorship of Federal Environmental Agency Websites Under Trump: What We Learned and How to Protect Public Information Moving Forward
Censorship of Federal Environmental Agency Websites Under Trump: What We Learned and How to Protect Public Information Moving Forward

A review of thousands of web pages from federal agencies, including the EPA, NASA, and NOAA, found that the use of the term “climate change” decreased almost 40 percent between 2016 and 2020. Establishing better web governance policies is a central piece of regaining and retaining the public’s trust
The Equation
10 ways Biden should fix the EPA
10 ways Biden should fix the EPA

Biden has nominated Michael Regan to lead the agency, which must be rebuilt and strengthened in the new administration.
Vox Vox
Pennsylvania water is not what it used to be | Opinion
Pennsylvania water is not what it used to be | Opinion

The Conodoguinet has been protected by the Clean Water Act since 1972.
pennlive pennlive
Trump’s Most Ambitious Environmental Rollback Yet
Trump’s Most Ambitious Environmental Rollback Yet

Last week, the Trump administration set its deregulatory crosshairs on the National Environmental Policy Act, one of the US foundational environmental laws.
The Globe Post The Globe Post
EDGI: EPA didn't provide enough information for true public comment on WOTUS rule — Public Health Law Watch
EDGI: EPA didn't provide enough information for true public comment on WOTUS rule — Public Health Law Watch

On February 14th, the EPA and Engineers Corps published a new rule changing the definition of “waters of the United States.” The public could comment on the new rule until April 15th. However, it’s unclear whether the public had access to enough information to make a truly informed comment.
Public Health Law Watch Public Health Law Watch

 

Full Coverage

Below is a downloadable table of the full coverage EDGI has received. We ask that you attribute EDGI if you publish all or a portion of this information.