{"id":193782,"date":"2025-10-01T03:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T03:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/193782\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T03:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T03:15:08","slug":"us-energy-department-cracks-down-on-workers-use-of-climate-crisis-language-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/193782\/","title":{"rendered":"US energy department cracks down on workers\u2019 use of climate crisis language | Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to avoid using the words \u201cclimate change\u201d in what seems to be the latest incident in a crackdown on discussing the climate crisis<\/a> in the US government.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid \u2013 and continue to be conscientious about avoiding any terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration\u2019s perspectives and priorities,\u201d says an email from an agency acting director seen by the Guardian.<\/p>\n

Employees in the Office of Energy<\/a> Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which is the government\u2019s largest funder of carbon-slashing technologies, were told to avoid using the terms in both internal dealings and public-facing work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you work directly on communications or not, this email applies to you,\u201d says the email, which was first obtained by Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a continuation of the anti-environmental agenda Trump has pushed since entering the White House, said one anonymous agency staffer. It follows a move by Trump to gut EERE\u2019s funding<\/a> of green technologies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy reaction was: same shit, different day,\u201d the worker said.<\/p>\n

In addition to \u201cclimate change\u201d, the banned terms include \u201cdecarbonization\u201d, \u201csustainable\u201d, \u201cemissions\u201d and \u201cgreen\u201d. Also on the list are \u201cenergy transition\u201d, \u201c\u2018clean\u2019 or \u2018dirty\u2019 energy\u201d and \u201ccarbon\/CO2 \u2018Footprint\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another set of words to be avoided: \u201cTax breaks\/tax credits\/subsidies\u201d, probably because of the terms\u2019 association with Joe Biden\u2019s efforts to subsidize green technologies, which the administration is clawing back.<\/p>\n

\u201cBanning the use of these words would silence key elements of DOE\u2019s mission,\u201d another anonymous current agency staffer told the Guardian. \u201cBut what is even more worrying is that Secretary Wright is also illegally freezing and cancelling programs that fund advanced research into solar, wind, and other clean energy technologies. DOE leadership can choose to stick their heads in the sand, but that won\u2019t make the climate crisis go away or stop super storms and wildfires from destroying more homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has this year asked agency leaders<\/a> to avoid some 200 terms<\/a> \u2013 a list that also includes words like \u201cactivism\u201d and \u201cinjustice\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to the Donald Trump<\/a> post-truth world,\u201d Dr Ali Khan, a retired US assistant surgeon general and a former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n

The Department of Energy\u2019s press secretary denies that it has instructed employees to avoid the use of specific terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no directive at the Energy Department instructing employees to avoid using phrases such as \u2018climate change\u2019 or \u2018emissions,\u2019\u201d Ben Dietderich, the agency\u2019s press secretary, said in an emailed statement. \u201cPresident Trump and Secretary Wright remain committed to transparency and fostering an open, honest dialogue about climate science. Reflecting that commitment, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright regularly engages on these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright railed against<\/a> climate policy at the United Nations general assembly last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more people have gotten into so-called climate action, the more expensive their energy has become,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cThat lowers people\u2019s quality of lives and reduces their life opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to defend a July climate report<\/a> produced by the energy department that experts say is riddled with misinformation, and announce the cancellation of $13bn of funding for renewable energy projects.<\/p>\n

The recommendations are the latest attempt by the Trump administration to minimize or silence discussions about the threats posed by the climate crisis. Upon retaking the White House in January, Trump stripped mentions<\/a> of climate change and global heating from government websites and ended<\/a> a slew<\/a> of climate-focused government programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a speech at the United Nations last week, the president also called<\/a> the crisis \u201cthe greatest con job ever perpetrated upon the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCountries are on the brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-193782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}