“Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway." Article Reflection No. 127 (2/15/2025)

Article: “Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway.”

In The New York Times article “Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway.,” journalist Catrin Einhorn discusses the National Nature Assessment, a government report that the Trump administration shut down earlier this year. The National Nature Assessment report’s preparation process for publication involved dozens of experts in the field, and their opposition to the administration’s decision to halt the initiative led to questions over how to uphold the authority and integrity of the report while publishing from a non-government source. Authors across the report’s chapters stood up for the report and its continuation, with Christopher Shell, one leading author in the report, “believ[ing] that a focus on environmental justice made the assessment more of a target for the Trump administration, which has attacked diversity, equity and inclusion programs and placed workers from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice on leave,” according to the article. 

I think that Schell’s input was really insightful because I’d never connected the dots like that before. Targeting niche areas in particular seems to be a very purposeful tactic and shutting out the employees in the sector is especially shocking to me. Actually, the power of the executive branch is becoming more and more shocking to me by the week.