How the Trump Administration Has Harmed Public Health and Safety in Its First Six Months

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that the Trump administration has waged a "war on science" by sidelining independent advice, appointing conflicted leaders, and rolling back science-based environmental and health protections. The report documents a pattern of political interference, including the removal of climate change data from federal websites and the creation of a hostile work environment for federal scientists, which the authors claim endangers vulnerable populations and erodes public trust in government.

• The Trump administration has systematically eroded the role of science in policymaking through tactics such as sidelining independent advice, leaving high-level science positions vacant, and appointing leaders with strong industry ties and limited scientific backgrounds.
• The administration and Congress have rolled back numerous science-based safeguards, including 13 congressional resolutions that overturned protections for safe drinking water and worker exposure to harmful chemicals.
• Climate change science has been specifically targeted through the misrepresentation of data, the removal of climate-related content from the websites of the EPA, State Department, and Department of Energy, and the announcement of the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
• Federal agency scientists are facing a hostile work environment characterized by a "culture of fear," where some are afraid to use the term "climate change" and others speak to the media anonymously to avoid retaliation.
• The administration has reduced public transparency by limiting access to scientific data, stopping the collection of data for disadvantaged groups, and restricting the ability of government scientists to communicate their work to the public and Congress.
• The administration has delayed or repealed pollution standards for mercury, air toxics, and coal waste-water without providing new, scientifically defensible replacements.

APA

Slattery, A. (2017). How the Trump Administration Has Harmed Public Health and Safety in Its First Six Months. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/07/sidelining-science-es-ucs-7-20-2017.pdf

Chicago

Slattery, Alison. How the Trump Administration Has Harmed Public Health and Safety in Its First Six Months. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/07/sidelining-science-es-ucs-7-20-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Slattery |first1=Alison |title=How the Trump Administration Has Harmed Public Health and Safety in Its First Six Months |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=July 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/07/sidelining-science-es-ucs-7-20-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{slattery2017how, author = {Slattery, Alison}, title = {{How the Trump Administration Has Harmed Public Health and Safety in Its First Six Months}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/07/sidelining-science-es-ucs-7-20-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }