A Year in, the Trump Administration is Exercising “Gold Standard” Suppression of Science

This story is about federal science policy, not home energy programs, but it touches on agencies homeowners rely on for climate and health information.

A year after the White House told federal agencies to follow "gold standard science" rules, watchdog groups say the policy has been used to remove public information, cast doubt on established research, and shift scientific decisions toward political appointees. NOAA shut down climate.gov, its longtime climate science site, and redirected users to a general NOAA page, citing the gold standard order without explaining what the site did wrong. The CDC added language to its autism and vaccines page suggesting the established finding that vaccines do not cause autism is not "evidence-based," despite decades of research supporting it. The EPA has proposed weakening rules on two chemicals, ethylene oxide and formaldehyde, leaning on industry-funded studies while removing dozens of federal webpages about their health risks.

Agencies have also reorganized in ways that reduce independent scientific review. The EPA dissolved its main research office and replaced it with a smaller one under political appointees. More than 100 federal science advisory committees have been eliminated, including at the Department of Energy, which shrank its advisory board from about 150 members to 22. A proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget, open for public comment until July 13, would let political appointees reject scientific findings that don't match the administration's priorities. None of this changes rebate programs directly, but it affects the government sources homeowners turn to for climate, health, and chemical safety information.