Our weekly bulletin collects and digests news of the past week. Contributions welcome.
This news bulletin was compiled by ASIU members Emma Broach and Elena Krueper. General questions or concerns about CSIU? Contact Michael Hamburger at hamburg@iu.edu.
GLOBAL NEWS
Government Science Data May Soon Be Hidden. They’re Racing to Copy It.
New York Times | March 21, 2025 Read More
Volunteers with Public Environmental Data Partners are working to download and preserve government data before it is removed from public sites. Two of the most publically important sites that have been removed are the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and the Environmental Justice Screening Tool, impacting individuals across many fields.
Trump order could wipe out federal support for U.S. science museums
Science | March 21, 2025 Read More
Trump ordered that funds be stripped away from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, threatening the survival of small government-dependent science museums. Opponents of this order argue that it will diminish the already struggling national science literacy levels.
Jury Orders Greenpeace to Pay Pipeline Company More Than $660 Million
New York Times | March 19, 2025 Read More
A North Dakota jury recently decided that the environmental organization Greenpeace owes pipeline company Energy Transfer more than $660 in reparations for its role in protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline. Greenpeace argues that this decision is an attempt to stifle oil-industry critics, and could mean the end of the organization's operation in the US.
Thousands Rally to "Stand Up for Science"
AIP | March 11, 2025 Read More
The national Stand Up for Science marches that occured on March 7th brought thousands together to fight to maintain scientific integrity in the US. Protestors focused their efforts on ending censorship, renewing funding for science, and defending diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Exclusive: NIH to cut grants for COVID research, documents reveal
Nature | March 26, 2025 Read More
The NIH recently cut billions of dollars of funding for most research currently studying COVID-19. Experts warn that halting this research will be detrimental to American efforts towards preparing for future pandemics, decreasing vaccine readiness and risk management.
The E.P.A. Shifts Its Mission
New York Times | March 13, 2025 Read More
The E.P.A.'s administrator Lee Zeldin has stated the organization's new mission will center around lowering costs for consumers buying cars, houses, and running businesses. This will manifest through cutting regulations, reducing funding, and rewriting standards, but contrasts the E.P.A.'s initial goal of protecting the environment.
Trump’s EPA aims to cut pollution rules projected to save nearly 200,000 lives: ‘People will be hurt’
The Guardian | March 19, 2025 Read More
The Trump Administration recently called to repeal 31 clean air and water regulations previously instituted by the E.P.A. Experts warn that these cuts will immediately and dramatically threaten the lives of up to 200,000 American people under the argument of cutting costs for tax-paying citizens.
Agencies Closing Science Advisory Committees
AIP | March 20, 2025 Read More
Following an executive order from Trump, numerous federal agencies are abandoning their science committees in order to reduce government spending and alleged waste. Many are concerned that these closures will effectively remove all input from the scientific community in federal decisions.
‘Without us, no scrutiny’: Indonesia’s independent media count cost of US funding cuts
Mongabay | March 06, 2025 Read More
After the US's funding cuts to international aid, numerous global journalism sources are struggling to cover environmental and human rights issues. These media groups are being forced to seek alternative funding sources, and many are concerned about the fate of international environmental journalism.
As Trump’s Policies Worry Scientists, France and Others Put Out a Welcome Mat
New York Times | March 25, 2025 Read More
Many European universities have created easier methods and programs to help scientists fleeing the United States's job and funding cuts, offering them new positions abroad. These universities are also attempting to fill the holes in research that will be left behind by the projects halted in the US under the Trump administration.
Biden Climate Funds Create Legal Storm for Trump Administration
Wall Street Journal | March 17, 2025 Read More
Money provided to reduce the United States's reliance on fossil fuels by the Inflation Reduction Act under Joe Biden was frozen by the Trump Administration. However, multiple judges and conservation organizations have challenged this freeze, citing lack of evidence of necessity to freeze the funds.
New Study Shows Extreme and Far-Reaching Impacts of Sackett Ruling on Federal Wetland Protections
Inside Climate News | March 25, 2025 Read More
After a May 2023 Supreme Court ruling left many of America's essential wetlands unprotected. A recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council has found that this ease of regulations could cause the destruction of millions of acres of wetlands, threatening worsened flood risks, water pollution, and a loss of biodiversity.
‘Anxiety is palpable’: detention of researchers at US border spurs travel worries
Nature | March 24, 2025 Read More
As immigration control in the United States becomes more restricted, foreign researchers are reconsidering their visits to America, and non-citizen US scientists fear their future travel plans will preclude them from returning to America. Many researchers are also concerned about facing hardships based on their race, sexuality, and/or scientific field.
Interior to open millions of acres in Alaska to drilling and mining
Washington Post | March 20, 2025 Read More
The Interior Department recently announced that it will open large swaths of land in Alaska to allow for oil drilling and a new pipeline, overturning protections that Biden planned in 2024. Many are concerned that this development will threaten both Alaskan indigenous populations and wildlife.
REGIONAL NEWS
IU, Bloomington scientists fight against censorship, politicization amid federal cuts
Indiana Public Media | March 20, 2025 Read More
Indiana Public Media recently covered ASIU and CSIU leaders and events, describing the impacts of policy on the IU scientific community and the efforts that our organizations are making to fight back.
Bill to use water pollution funds to combat invasive species waits for Gov. Mike Braun's signature
WFYI | March 21, 2025 Read More
A bill passed in the Indiana House last week is designed to provide significant funding to farmers and landowners to combat water pollution from agricultural runoff and cut down invasive species populations. Mike Braun has the ability to sign this bill into law, providing more funding access to the previously implemented Clean Water Indiana Program.
How cities are combatting climate change
Indiana Public Media | March 19, 2025 Read More
Bloomington is ramping up its climate action efforts with two new resident-led commissions focused on sustainability, even as the City Council dissolves a previous climate committee that successfully developed an action plan and accountability tools. The move reflects a shift toward community-driven initiatives fighting climate change.
Advocate blast Braun for barring social justice factors in environmental policy decisions
IndyStar | March 12, 2025 Read More
Mike Braun issued executive orders prohibiting the consideration of social justice factors in environmental policy decisions and reduced business burdens when addressing environmental action. Opponents criticize these actions as rushed, arguing they overlook the disproportionate pollution impacts on vulnerable communities and prioritize short-term economic gains.
Utilities may charge for nuclear pre-construction costs under bill sent to governor's desk
WFYI | March 21, 2025 Read More
Indiana's Senate Bill 424, now awaiting the governor's signature, would allow utilities to pass certain pre-construction costs for small modular nuclear reactors onto customers, even if the projects are not completed. Critics express concern over potential financial risks to consumers, noting that similar projects have faced significant delays and cost overruns.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
IU faculty, students ask Whitten, Shrivastav to speak out in support of science
The Herald Times | March 20, 2025 Read More
The open letter that CSIU drafted and sent to President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav was published as an opinion piece last week. Currently, CSIU is still waiting on a direct response from the university.
The North Dakota ruling against Greenpeace is a threat to free speech
The Guardian | March 25, 2025 Read More
The North Dakota ruling in support of the pipeline company Energy Transfer and against the environmental organization Greenpeace is an attack on the first amendment right of free speech. Greenpeace peacefully protested within the breadth of free speech, and this ruling has dire implications for the future of political speech in general.
DOGE Is Making It Harder to Track Extreme Weather. What Could Go Wrong?
New York Times | March 17, 2025 Read More
As weather-tracking technology is cut down across many scientific federal agencies under the Trump administration, the US population will feel the reduction. Agriculture, disaster preparedness, air pollution, and insurance will all be directly impacted by these cuts.
Why companies are rushing to flatter Trump
Chemistry World | March 11, 2025 Read More
Under Trump's recent orders against diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, corporations are bowing to requests to adhere to the policies put in place strictly for federal agencies (but prompted for companies). These corporations are bending to political power in order to maintain a lucrative standing within the tumultuous US market.
Elon Musk Should Take a Hard Look at One Agency Truly Wasting Taxpayer Dollars
New York Times | March 07, 2025 Read More
While Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency slash funding from numerous other federal agencies, the one they should focus on in reality is the Department of Agriculture. This agency unevenly distributed subsidies to the richest farmers, perpetuating their wealth and maintaining the status of struggling farmers.
Donald Trump’s ‘war on woke’ is fast becoming a war on science. That’s incredibly dangerous
The Guardian | March 26, 2025 Read More
Trump's attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across federal agencies are directly impacting science and academia. These reductions will prove drastically dangerous to scientific research efforts surrounding minority communities, encouraging homogeneity and threatening the safety of marginalized groups.
The Oil Oligarch Who Wants to Take Us Back to the 1990s
New York Times | March 24, 2025 Read More
Harold Hamm, a big name in the US oil industry, has many connections within the Trump administration and is a staunch supporter of perpetuating the American fossil fuel industry and downsizing renewable energy sources. However, fully shutting down solar plants and wind farms is a large risk to the US economy. We need to diversify our energy resources.
TAKE ACTION & RESOURCE FOR ACTIVISTS
Bills to Protect Our Science Workforce -- Now's the Time to Act
American Geophysical Union | March 20, 2025 Read More
Urge your members of Congress to support recently proposed bills intended to slow the Trump administration's reductions on numerous federal science agencies.
Our CSIU news bulletin is intended to provide a brief update on recent news, editorials, as well as action items related to science integrity and science policy. Note that editorial pieces and action items are assembled from a variety of sources and organizations; they do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy priorities of Concerned Scientists @ IU. This week’s news bulletin was compiled and edited by ASIU members Emma Broach and Elena Krueper. If you’d like to volunteer—or if you have additional links you’d like to share for future bulletins, send them to hamburg@iu.edu.
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