Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue with Donald Trump, April 2017 (Andrew Harnik/AP)
The Trump Administration has refused to publicize dozens of Government-funded studies on the effects of climate change, burying the work of the Agriculture Department’s scientists.
At least 45 studies have been suppressed. They include the discovery that rice loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment — a health concern for the 600 million people across the world with rice-dominated diets — a finding that climate change could exacerbate allergy seasons; and reduction in quality of grasses for cattle.
All of the studies were peer-reviewed and cleared by the Agricultural Research Service.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, a climate-change sceptic, declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Department said there are no directives discouraging the dissemination of climate-related findings.
Earlier this month the Administration blocked an official from testifying to Congress about climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency has been curbed, including in its climate change research, and other agencies from NASA to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been blocked from publication or even mentioning “climate change” on websites.
Since Trump took office in January 2017, the Agricultural Research Service has issued releases for only two climate-related studies, both of which were favorable to tmeat industry. One found that beef production makes a relatively small contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The second concluding that removing animal products from the diet for environmental reasons would likely cause widespread nutritional problems.
In contrast, Agriculture Department officials not only withheld a prepared release, but tried to prevent dissemination of the findings by research partners.
A Department scientist responded:
Why the hell is the US, which is ostensibly the leader in science research, ignoring this?It’s not like we’re working on something that’s esoteric … we’re working on something that has dire consequences for the entire planet.
You can only postpone reality for so long.
Other findings which have not been promoted:
*Climate change is likely to increase agricultural pollution and nutrient runoff in the Lower Mississippi River Delta.
*The Southern Plains — the agriculture-rich region from Kansas to Texas — is increasingly vulnerable, from crops to cattle.
*Elevated carbon dioxide levels lead to “substantial and persistent” declines in the quality of certain prairie grasses that are important for raising cattle.
*Coffee, affected by climate change, can potentially help scientists figure out how to evaluate and respond to the complex interactions between plants, pests, and a changing environment.
*Climate change would likely lead to more runoff in the Chesapeake Bay watershed during certain seasons.
*Increased temperature fluctuating might boost pollen so it leads to longer and more intense allergy seasons across the northern hemisphere.
