On July 8, 2019 E&E News reported on a press release from earlier that year publicizing a study on climate change from the US Geological Survey (USGS). E&E found that the press release was subject to politically motivated edits and omitted or misrepresented the study’s findings.
The USGS study showed that climate change would cause over $100 billion in climate-related damages in California by the end of the century. Researchers at USGS wrote a draft press release to publicize these findings, and submitted their draft to USGS officials for review. Several months later, USGS published a final version of the press release which omitted any mention of monetary damages from climate change and instead focused on the methodology used, touting “state-of-the-art computer models.
Researchers speaking anonymously to E&E News said climate change-related press releases would usually be approved a few days after submission during the Obama administration, but under the Trump administration approval could take over six months. Of the delayed publication and misleading edits, one federal researcher said: “It’s been made clear to us that we’re not supposed to use climate change in press releases anymore.” However, a spokeswoman for USGS told reporters: “There is no policy nor directive in place that directs us to avoid mentioning climate change in our communication materials.”