Scoop: Trump’s new gag order threatens food supply

Why should farmers need to know about the climate or clean water?

Welcome to a Sunday night edition of Progress Report.

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A division of the USDA that monitors the environmental conditions that impact the nation’s agricultural systems and food supply has been hit with a scientific gag order that forbids the use of dozens of relevant and mission-critical terms in key documents and agreements.

An email sent on March 20th reminded staff that they could not use an assortment of terms in contracts and other agreements, including those covering research and end experiments, submitted to the Agricultural Research Service, the in-house research arm of the USDA.

Sharon Strickland, a section head at the ARS, warned that including the terms — including “climate change,” “clean energy,” and “safe drinking water” — would lead to automatic rejection.

Strickland, a longtime government employee and USDA staffer, told employees that the blanket ban was being implemented to ensure compliance with the Trump administration’s executive orders. According to a source, it’s been left unclear whether the terms can be used in internal reports. Work has largely been halted either way, as the ARS has been hit with a hiring freeze and throttled employees’ procurement credit cards.

The ARS is responsible for overseeing the health of the nation’s farmland and the crops it produces, and is counted on to develop solutions for diseases, disasters, and other threats to the food supply. It works with research universities, which have also come under attack by the Trump administration.

The division was operating over 600 research projects in 95 locations and most recently had a $1.7 billion budget. Ongoing projects include research into diseases that impact wheat cereal, unlocking disease resistant maize crops, and heat-tolerant soybeans. Each would seem to be endangered by the new language moratorium.

Below is the entire list of banned terms, minus the so-called “DEI” phrases that have been banned across the whole of government.

Climate:

• “climate,”

• "climate change"

• "climate-change"

• "changing climate"

• "climate consulting modeling,” "climate models,” "climate model"

• "climate accountability"

• "climate risk,” “climate adaptation,” "climate resilience"

• "climate smart agriculture,” "climate smart forestry," "climate smart"

• "climate science,” "climate variability,” "global warming"

• "carbon sequestration"

• "GHG emission,” "GHG monitoring,” "GHG modeling"

• "carbon emissions mitigation,” "greenhouse gas emission,” "methane emissions"

• "green infrastructure,” "sustainable construction"

• "carbon pricing,” "carbon markets"

Clean Energy:

• "clean energy,” "clean power,” "clean fuel,” "alternative energy"

• "hydropower,” "geothermal,” "solar energy,” "solar power"

• "photovoltaic,” "agrivoltaic,” "wind power"

• "nuclear energy,” "nuclear power"

• "bioenergy,” "biofuel,” "biogas,” "biomethane"

• "ethanol,” "diesel,” "aviation fuel,” "pyrolysis,” "energy conversion"

Clean transportation:

• “electric vehicle,”

• “hydrogen vehicle,”

• “fuel cell”

• “low-emission vehicle”

Affordable Housing:

• “affordable housing,” "affordable home"

• “low-income housing,” “subsidized housing"

• “transitional housing"

• “housing affordability"

• "housing efficiency,” "prefabricated housing"

Pollution Remediation:

• “runoff"

• membrane filtration"

• “microplastics"

• "water pollution,” "air pollution,” "soil pollution,” "groundwater pollution"

• "pollution remediation,” "pollution abatement"

• “sediment remediation"

• "contaminants of environmental concern"

• “CEC,” "PFAS,” “PFOA,” "PCB”

• "nonpoint source pollution"

Water infrastructure:

• "water collection”

• "water treatment"

• “water storage"

• "water distribution"

• “water management"

• "rural water"

• "agricultural water"

• “water conservation,” "water efficiency"

• "water quality"

• "clean water,” "safe drinking water"

• "field drainage,” "tile drainage"

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