The United States Coast Guard Academy has removed the phrase “climate change” from its curriculum to align with an order from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem. On February 14, 2025, Noem ordered agency officials to “eliminate all climate change activities and the use of climate change terminology in DHS policies and programs.” This followed a January 20, 2025 executive order by President Trump revoking previous climate change policies.
Amy Goodman, the Coast Guard’s chief academic officer, said that the erasure of language related to the “human-induced rise in global temperatures” from course materials and the revisions to “certain aspects of some courses” were required by the orders and would not affect the quality of education. But retired Admiral Paul Zukunft, the Coast Guard commandant from 2014-2018, said in an interview that cadets need to understand climate change in order to effectively undertake missions and that cadets currently at the academy need to be trained for the realities of climate change that will continue beyond the current administration.