USDA’s climate webpage purge breaks laws and hurts farmers, lawsuit alleges

By Shannon Kelleher and Carey Gillam

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) broke the law when it purged government websites of climate-related information and disabled access to key datasets, making it hard for farmers to access information on climate adaptation strategies and financial assistance, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by a coalition of advocacy groups.

The “vital resources” were stripped from various USDA websites on Jan.30, shortly after President Donald Trump took office, erasing public access to information about climate-smart agriculture, forest conservation, climate change adaptation, investment in clean energy projects and other “essential information about USDA programs and policies,” the lawsuit alleges.

The case against the agency was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group.

The plaintiffs allege that the USDA broke the law by not providing legally required notice before removing the webpages, violating the Freedom of Information Act, and by not giving “reasoned decision-making” to the harm caused to farmers and others by the removal of the information.

The USDA did not respond to a request for comment, instead referring questions to the US Department of Justice, which declined to comment.

The lawsuit comes amid a flurry of actions taken by the Trump administration in the last few weeks to overhaul federal agencies and rollback or otherwise reverse many moves made by the Biden administration, including Biden-era policies aimed at mitigating harmful climate change.

Among the actions, Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris climate agreement, moved to expand oil and gas production, pushed back on electric vehicle expansion projects and sought to weaken requirements under the Endangered Species Act.

Earthjustice, a nonprofit legal group representing the plaintiffs, said the moves to remove access to climate information and programs is “essential for farmers to make informed decisions about planting and investments and secure critical financial and technical support.” Limiting such information threatens their financial stability, according to Earthjustice.

Farmers are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, dealing with more intense weather events, and can play an outsized role in helping mitigate harmful climate changes.

Groups that educate farmers about USDA programs and help them navigate available resources on climate-smart agriculture and find funding will struggle to do so without access to the purged webpages, the plaintiffs argue. As well, additional webpages focused on climate change appear at risk of removal, according to the lawsuit.

The groups wrote to the USDA on Feb. 12 to express their concerns about the purged webpages but have not received a response, according to the complaint.

The purge comes at a time of year when farmers are making “crucial decisions” about what to plant and how to finance their operations, according to the complaint, adding that farmers will now be forced to make their decisions without complete information about USDA loan programs and tools to help them protect their livelihoods from climate change.

Farmers across the country are also suffering the effects of Trump’s federal funding freeze, which has paused nearly $20 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for farmland conservation programs.

“Climate change is not a hoax,” Wes Gillingham, board president of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, said in a statement. “Farmers, fisherman and foresters know from experience that we need every piece of science and intergenerational knowledge to adjust to this new reality. The removal of vital information for family farms is the real hoax being played on America.”

Featured image by Spencer Scott Pugh on Unsplash