About the Silencing Science Tracker

The Silencing Science Tracker is a joint initiative of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. It is intended to record reports of federal, state, and local government attempts to “silence science” since the November 2016 election.

We define “silencing science” to include any action that has the effect of restricting or prohibiting scientific research, education, or discussion, or the publication or use of scientific information. We divide such actions into 7 categories as follows:

The tracker does not include federal legislative proposals affecting scientific research, education, or discussion. State-level proposals are included, however.

All tracker entries are drawn from media reports, with most taken from national news sources. We do not take any position on the accuracy of those reports. Please contact Romany Webb ([email protected]) or Susan Rosenthal ([email protected]) to recommend relevant media reports we may have missed or provide responses or corrections to media reports we have included

Please note, we cannot provide assistance to researchers and/or others who believe they may have been the target of government attempts to silence science. If you believe you may have been targeted, we recommend you contact an attorney. You may also contact one or more of the organizations listed on the resources page. If you wish to stay anonymous, please be sure to discuss confidentiality issues before disclosing information to any organization or person, including those listed here.