WASHINGTON – In a surprising move, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revised its widely-visited webpage on the causes of climate change, omitting any reference to fossil fuels. These fuels are widely acknowledged by scientists as the primary contributors to global warming.

Recently, the EPA made changes to several sections of its climate change information online, minimizing or removing mentions of coal, oil, and natural gas combustion. Experts assert that these are significant contributors to climate change. The revised page now highlights natural factors such as Earth’s orbital shifts, solar fluctuations, and volcanic activities, completely omitting fossil fuel usage. Seven scientists and three former EPA officials expressed their concern to The Associated Press, arguing that the updated content is misleading and potentially damaging.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist from the University of California, criticized the changes, stating, “The information is now completely incorrect.” He also pointed out that links related to climate impacts, risks, and indicators on the EPA site now lead to errors. Swain emphasized the site’s previous utility, noting, “It was a crucial resource for educators and the public, offering well-designed, easily accessible information on climate change in the U.S.”

This revision follows an earlier decision by the Trump Administration to remove the national climate assessment from government websites.

Jane Lubchenco, former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Obama Administration and an oceanographer at Oregon State University, condemned the move. She stated, “It is appalling that our government is concealing information and distorting facts. Citizens deserve to know the truth about issues impacting their health and safety, and it is the government’s duty to provide accurate information.”

An October version of the same EPA page, saved by the internet Wayback Machine, said: “Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which has changed the earth’s climate. Natural processes, such as changes in the sun’s energy and volcanic eruptions, also affect the Earth’s climate. However, they do not explain the warming that we have observed over the last century.”

That now reads: “Natural processes are always influencing the earth’s climate and can explain climate changes prior to the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s. However, recent climate changes cannot be explained by natural causes alone.”

“Unlike the previous administration, the Trump EPA is focused on protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback, not left-wing political agendas,” said Brigit Hirsch, EPA spokesperson, in an email. “As such, this agency no longer takes marching orders from the climate cult. Plus, for all the pearl-clutchers out there, the website is archived and available to the public.”

Clicking on “explore climate change resources” on the EPA archived website leads to an error message that says: “This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it.”

Former Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman, who was EPA administrator under George W. Bush, said, “You can refuse to talk about it, but it doesn’t make it go away. And we’re seeing it. Everybody’s seeing it.”

“We look ridiculous, quite frankly,” Whitman told The Associated Press in an interview. “The rest of the world understands this is happening and they’re taking steps… And we’re just going backwards. We’re knocking ourselves back into the Stone Age.”

Democratic EPA chief Gina McCarthy blasted current EPA chief Lee Zeldin, calling him “a wolf in sheep’s clothing, actively spiking any attempt to protect our health, well-being and precious natural resources.”

Nearly 100% of the warming the world is now experiencing is from human activity, and without that, the Earth would be cooling and dropping in temperatures until the Industrial Revolution, Swain and other scientists said. The EPA listed natural causes “might be causing a very tiny amount of warming or cooling at the moment,” he said.

Marcia McNutt, a geophysicist and president of the National Academy of Sciences, said that there is consensus among experts from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, or NASEM, on the causes of climate change.

“Numerous NASEM reports from the nation’s leading scientists confirm that the climate is changing as a result of human activities,” McNutt said. “Even the EPA acknowledges that natural causes cannot explain the current changes in climate. It is important that the public be presented with all of the facts.”

Former EPA climate advisor Jeremy Symons, now a senior advisor for Environmental Protection Network of former EPA officials, said: “Ignoring fossil fuel pollution as the driving force behind the climate changes we have seen in our lifetime is like pretending cigarettes don’t cause lung cancer.”

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Michael Phillis contributed to this report.

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