The White House webpage flipped to a new owner with the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Friday, and among Trump's first acts was announcing an end to an Obama administration climate plan and water pollution rule.
"President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies," Trump said in the announcement of his "America First Energy Plan."
The climate plan directed federal agencies to establish standards for carbon pollution with states, prepare for the effects of a warming climate, and work with other nations on international climate agreements.
The clean water rule largely seeks to limit contamination from mountaintop mining and coal-waste dams to wetlands. The rule protects drinking water and the environment by broadening the categories of streams and waterways covered by federal law.
Both the plan and rule were hotly criticized by Trump during the campaign.
"A brighter future depends on energy policies that stimulate our economy, ensure our security, and protect our health," Trump said in his announcement.
Some observers note that while a number of White House webpages have changed, agency climate pages are still intact.
EPA, NASA, DOE climate change pages still very up https://t.co/Hfld1dXEw3 https://t.co/RdmYkHAeaX https://t.co/59zyLwyC5a
Climate change is no longer listed as a "Top Issue" on the White House website, Tech Crunch has noted. And the White House site now lacks links to "climate change" when entered as a search query on the site, aside from a reference to Mamie Eisenhower.
Additionally, a search of "climate" alone yields only a reference to Trump's new energy plan page, and references to the the wives of Presidents Herbert Hoover and (again) Dwight Eisenhower.
The Snopes.com fact checking outlet suggests "it's inaccurate to say that these terms were specifically scrubbed from the site by Donald Trump," because Obama administration pages were automatically transferred to an archival site at the Inauguration, which explains the absences.
