The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has decided to reinstate webpages related to climate change after facing a lawsuit regarding their removal in February. The legal action was taken by several groups, including the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Environmental Working Group, who argued that such deletions were against the law regarding public access to government information.
This change comes just ahead of a May 21 court hearing concerning the request for an immediate order to stop the agency’s actions. The USDA had previously deleted information about climate-smart farming, conservation efforts, and certain federal loan programs, which came in the wake of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
In the meantime, the Trump administration was also halting funding associated with climate change and agriculture initiatives that had been established under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
In a court filing, the Justice Department stated that the USDA would restore the removed content and commit to following federal regulations for future website updates. The lawsuit was initiated by Earthjustice and the Knight First Amendment Institute from Columbia University.
Earthjustice attorney Jeffrey Stein expressed that the removal of key information made it tough for farmers to access necessary funding and for advocates to inform the public and lawmakers about the negative impacts of funding cuts on everyday Americans. He described this situation as a concerning combination of funding freezes and staff cuts leading to a lack of vital information.
A USDA spokesperson directed questions to the Department of Justice, which did not respond immediately. Stein indicated that the USDA is expected to restore most of the material within approximately two weeks and expressed hope that this would signal a positive change in other ongoing legal cases against the administration for similar information removal actions.
