A sweeping data purge under the Trump administration is erasing vital health and climate information from federal websites, raising alarms among researchers and public health advocates.
Key Points at a Glance:
- The Trump administration has started removing health and climate data from federal websites.
- Critical resources like CDC’s data portal and environmental justice indexes have gone offline.
- Efforts to archive vulnerable datasets are underway by researchers and advocacy groups.
- This data purge could have long-term implications for public health, environmental policy, and scientific research.
The Trump administration has initiated a sweeping data purge, targeting key resources related to environmental data and public health. Critical datasets are disappearing from federal websites, raising concerns among researchers, policymakers, and public health advocates. This aggressive move appears to align with the administration’s broader agenda to dismantle regulations and policies associated with climate change, racial equity, and gender identity.
Warnings surfaced on social media, alerting the public about an impending data purge at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This triggered a rush to save vulnerable data. The CDC’s comprehensive data portal, which housed vital information on chronic diseases, traffic injuries, tobacco use, vaccinations, and pregnancy statistics, went offline, citing compliance with Executive Order 14168. The executive order, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” mandates revisions to federal content to align with its directives.
Despite these setbacks, researchers had anticipated such actions and proactively archived government websites in preparation for potential data removal. This practice intensified with Trump’s return to office, drawing parallels to his first term when nearly 20% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) website content was removed. Now, the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and Environmental Justice Index (EJI) have both been taken offline. These indexes were crucial for identifying populations at heightened health risks due to socioeconomic and environmental factors.
The Biden administration had championed initiatives like the EJI, emphasizing the need to address health disparities in marginalized communities. However, Trump’s new executive orders aim to reverse such policies, labeling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts as corruptive influences on government institutions. Moreover, the administration blames climate-related regulations for economic burdens, further justifying the purge of environmental data.
The Department of Transportation (USDOT) has also witnessed content removal, particularly concerning climate and sustainability priorities. Internal memos reveal directives to eliminate Biden-era programs related to climate change and DEI, reflecting a systematic rollback of progressive policies.
Additionally, Trump’s foreign aid policies have impacted public health data. Information related to the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has provided life-saving treatment to millions globally, has been removed from official websites. This move threatens the accessibility of crucial health data for ongoing and future research.
Despite these challenges, initiatives like the End of Term Web Archive and the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) are actively working to preserve endangered datasets. Collaborations with organizations like the Open Environmental Data Project have ensured that archived data from the CDC’s SVI and EJI remain available through alternative platforms.
However, the utility of archived data diminishes over time without regular updates. As Dan Pisut from GIS software company Esri notes, outdated datasets may not accurately reflect current conditions, posing risks for data-driven decision-making. Nonetheless, having access to archived data, even if not current, remains preferable to complete data loss.
As the Trump administration’s data purge continues, the long-term implications for scientific research, public health policy, and environmental governance remain uncertain. The erosion of accessible, reliable data could hinder efforts to address pressing societal challenges, making the preservation and protection of this information more critical than ever.
