Latest news with #WaybackMachine
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA drops plans to publish scrubbed climate change report on its site
In a reversal, NASA no longer plans to publish a major climate report whose previous website was scrubbed by the Trump administration. The report in question, known as the National Climate Assessment, was previously housed on After the Trump administration eliminated the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) website, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said that 'all preexisting reports will be hosted on the NASA website, ensuring continuity of reporting.' But those plans have changed. Stevens appeared to indicate in a statement to The Hill on Monday that NASA no longer plans to host the information on its website. 'The USGCRP met its statutory requirements by presenting its reports to Congress. NASA has no legal obligations to host data,' Stevens said. The announcement comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to downplay or deny climate change's existence and its impact on extreme weather. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, has said it wants to reconsider its finding that climate change poses a threat to the public. It has also dismissed all of the scientists who were set to work on the next version of the climate assessment, the completion of which is mandated by Congress. The 2023 version of the climate assessment can still be downloaded from online government archives as of Tuesday, or it can be viewed using the Wayback Machine internet archive. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
5 days ago
- Science
- The Hill
NASA drops plans to publish scrubbed climate change report on its site
In a reversal, NASA no longer plans to publish a major climate report whose own previous website was scrubbed by the Trump administration. The report in question, known as the National Climate Assessment, was previously housed on After the Trump administration eliminated the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) website, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said that 'all preexisting reports will be hosted on the NASA website, ensuring continuity of reporting.' But those plans have changed. Stevens appeared to indicate in a statement to The Hill on Monday that NASA no longer plans to host the information on its website. 'The USGCRP met its statutory requirements by presenting its reports to Congress. NASA has no legal obligations to host data,' Stevens said. The announcement comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to downplay or deny climate change's existence and its impact on extreme weather. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, has said it wants to reconsider its finding that climate change poses a threat to the public. It has also dismissed all of the scientists who were set to work on the next version of the climate assessment, the completion of which is mandated by Congress. The 2023 version of the climate assessment can still be downloaded from online government archives as of Tuesday, or it can be viewed using the Wayback Machine internet archive.
UPI
01-07-2025
- Science
- UPI
Nation's top climate science assessments removed from federal websites
The vital climate science information offered guidance to communities on the climate risks they face, as well as how to plan for and safeguard residents from climate-related disasters like floods and wildfires. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- The Trump administration has quietly shut down a major federal website that hosted congressionally mandated national climate assessments, which were the U.S. government's preeminent reports on climate change impacts, risks and responses. The disappearance Monday of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's website marked an unexpected loss in public access to the most crucial source for climate-related science. Also missing was access to previous National Climate Assessments, which are robust scientific evaluations used by lawmakers, scientists and the public to understand and mitigate climate change trends. Climate scientists condemned the missing access to the vital climate science information, which offered guidance to communities on the climate risks they face, as well as how to plan for and safeguard residents from climate-related disasters like floods and wildfires. Rachel Brittin, the former deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's external affairs office, said the removal of the website "silences scientists" and "blinds decision-makers." "Americans deserve facts -- not censorship -- when it comes to preparing for a changing world," Brittin, who served during the current Trump administration, said in a statement to Medill News Service. Patrick Gonzalez, a climate change scientist at UC Berkeley and co-author of the third and fourth National Climate Assessments, criticized the Trump administration for "suppressing the science of human-caused climate change because they are afraid of the facts, which disprove their erroneous opinions." None of the five previous iterations of the assessment was available through the Global Change Research Program website as of Tuesday afternoon. Clicking on the 2023 Fifth National Climate Assessment produced an error message. Archived versions of the assessments were buried deep in the Environmental Protection Agency website, but only via the agency's search engine. They also could also be accessed through the Wayback Machine, a non-profit Internet archive. Some climate scientists downloaded copies of past assessments and uploaded them to their own websites after the site went dark. The White House did not respond to a request for comment concerning whether the assessments would be available again online. In 1990, Congress passed the Global Change Research Act, which mandated the federal government to create the Global Change Research Program and require a report every four years on the current state of global climate change. The National Climate Assessment qualified as a Highly Influential Scientific Assessment, which Congress mandated in 2005 be publicly accessible. President Donald Trump targeted the Global Change Research Program in the past. Trump removed Michael Kuperberg, the former executive director of the program, from the position in November 2020. Former President Joe Biden reinstated Kuperberg as head of the program in July 2021, where he oversaw the fourth and fifth editions of the National Climate Assessment. In April, scientists working on the Sixth National Climate Assessment were relieved from their duties. In the dismissal email, the administration said "the scope of the [National Climate Assessment] is currently being re-evaluated." On June 23, the Trump administration released a memorandum directing federal agencies to incorporate "Gold Standard Science" tenets into their research. In an executive order in May, Trump decreed that science must be "reproducible" and "skeptical of its findings and assumptions," among other descriptors. The administration referenced the memorandum to justify deleting another high-traffic federal website for climate change information. redirected users to the NOAA website as of June 24. In the same executive order, Trump said previous administrations "promoted scientific information in a highly misleading manner." The executive order also said that federal decision-making under this standard would use the "most credible, reliable and impartial scientific evidence available."
Politico
18-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Trump's FAA pick acknowledges he doesn't have a ‘commercial' pilot's license
Bryan Bedford, the Trump administration's pick to head the Federal Aviation Administration, acknowledged this week that he does not have a commercial pilot's license, despite having claimed for years to have one as part of his biography on the airline's website. Bedford, the CEO of Republic Airways, said it is 'correct' that he doesn't have a commercial pilot's license. He said he had passed the oral and written exams needed for one but didn't complete a 'check ride' — a test of flying ability conducted by an FAA examiner — due to bad weather, according to answers to questions submitted by lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee. 'It is true I fully completed all my commercial flight training, including the FAA written exam and FAA oral exam,' he wrote in the document. 'However, due to weather, I was unable to complete my FAA check ride before switching jobs and therefore did not formally obtain my commercial flight license.' A Democratic committee aide, granted anonymity to discuss the details of the questionnaire, said the committee received Bedford's answers on Monday. POLITICO reported last week about discrepancies related to his pilot's license credentials. In answer to a question about why he continued to publicly claim having earned a commercial license, including in a 2019 speech he gave at Liberty University, Bedford suggested that 'context is important in this setting.' 'I was simply trying to relate to these students my appreciation for their achievements based on my own extensive flight training experience. I still fly, as a pilot, on a regular basis,' he wrote. The Transportation Department previously confirmed that Bedford passed the oral and written part of the licensure requirements. On Wednesday, Halee Dobbins, a DOT spokesperson, said Bedford 'has a proven track record that makes him exceptionally qualified to lead the FAA' and said 'desperate smears from the fake news media are nothing more than a cheap attack and disregard the importance of ensuring a safe and reliable national air system.' Republic Airways did not respond to a request for comment. But in addition to the 2019 speech, Bedford's biography at Republic Airways, the regional airline where he has been CEO since 1999, said until last week that he 'holds commercial, multi-engine and instrument ratings.' A search of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine shows his biography had mentioned his having a 'commercial' rating since 2010. Bedford has appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee and is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor on his nomination. So far, the licensure issue does not appear to be a significant impediment to his confirmation. Bedford does hold a private pilot's license, including some specialized certifications such as being able to fly planes with more than one engine and to fly in certain conditions where instruments are needed instead of visual cues.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's FAA Nominee Lied About Having a ‘Commercial' Pilot License
Bryan Bedford, Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has misled the public, claiming to have a 'commercial' pilot license that he does not hold, Politico reported. Bedford, who serves as president and CEO of Republic Airways, was listed on the airline's website as holding 'commercial, multi-engine and instrument pilot ratings' as recently as Thursday, according to Politico. But after the outlet inquired about Bedford's credentials, the airline removed 'commercial' from the webpage on Friday, the publication reported. According to Politico, Bedford does not have a commercial pilot's license listed in the FAA registry. But Bedford has claimed since at least 2010 to have that kind of license according to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine records of Republic Airways' website. Bedford does have a private pilot's license, including credentials that he can fly multi-engine planes and fly in bad weather and at nighttime. The Department of Transportation (DOT) told Politico that Bedford has passed 'written and oral exams' to fly commercial aircraft. The department additionally said that Bedford had not 'personally nor publicly claimed to be a commercial airline pilot.' 'Bryan never misrepresented his credential; it was an administrative error that was immediately corrected,' DOT said in a statement. As Politico noted, The Air Current in an April 2025 article about Bedford also pointed out that the CEO is not a commercial pilot. 'Bedford is a pilot himself, although not a commercial pilot, as he has sometimes claimed to be,' The Air Current wrote. Given recent events, including the Jan. 2025 collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 over the Potomac River near Washington-Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people, many are looking to the FAA to improve the air traffic control system. Elon Musk, while leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, tried to lay off swaths of air traffic controllers but was stopped by the DOT. Trump blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices for the crash. Bedford faced questioning last week from the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee as part of his nomination process. Members of the committee grilled him about how his company tried (and failed) to certify pilots who only met half of the federally required flight hours. When questioned by Sen. Tammy Duckworth about whether he would keep the number of required hours to 1,500, Bedford would not give a straight answer. 'It doesn't sound like a yes,' Duckworth said. 'It sounds like you're leaving the door open to reduce the number of flight hours below 1,500.' 'What I'm saying is I don't believe safety is static,' Bedford responded. More from Rolling Stone Trump Parade Turnout Swamped by Millions Who Protested at 'No Kings' Rallies 'Chicago Is Next': Team Trump Plots Another Militarized Crackdown Tear Gas, Human Stampedes, and ICE Raids: 100 Hours in L.A. Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
