The Environmental Protection Agency, the primary environmental regulator of the United States government, recently removed all mention of fossil fuels as a cause of global warming on its public webpage intended to discuss all causes of climate change.
Several media outlets have noticed the change around the second week of December 2025. The issue has since caught the attention of scientists.
In October 2025, according to an older webpage version archived in the Wayback Machine, it stated that since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which have changed the climate of the Earth.
The new version of the page has removed that explicit attribution to human fossil-fuel burning. The emphasis now is on natural processes.
Natural phenomena mentioned on the webpage include changes in the orbit of the Earth, solar activity, changes in the reflectivity of the Earth, volcanoes, and natural fluctuations in the levels of carbon dioxide. There is no explicit mention of human-induced changes.
Several climate scientists and former EPA officials argue against the omission. Most corrected the claim, and some underscore the problem with the changes made.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, told the Associated Press that the page was a tool a lot of educators used. He added that it was one of the best-designed, easy-access climate change information websites for the United States.
In a New York Times statement, Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists said that the agency is trying to bury the evidence of human-caused climate change.
Brigit Hirsh, EPA spokesperson, explained in an email to the Associated Press that the present administration is focused on protecting human health and the environment while supporting the “great American comeback” and not a left-wing political agenda.
Hence, unlike the previous Biden administration, Hirsch said that EPA no longer takes orders from what he labeled as a cult of climate activists.
This is not the first time a science-related U.S. agency has made omissions or claims contrary to scientific consensus. It can be recalled that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its autism and vaccines information page on 19 November 2025.
Note that the EPA still has several pages discussing fossil fuels. These include a dedicated page that breaks down the sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
The particular page notes that the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. It explains that greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Borenstein, S. 10 December 2025. “EPA Eliminates Mention of Fossil Fuels in Website on Warming’s Causes. Scientists Call It Misleading.” Associated Press. Available online
- Environmental Protection Agency. 3 December 2025. “Causes of Climate Change.” Climate Change Environmental Protection Agency. Available online
- Environmental Protection Agency. 31 March 2025. “Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Environmental Protection Agency. Available online
- Friedman, L. 9 December 2025. “E.P.A. Erases Mention of Humans Causing Climate Change From Some Web Pages.” The New York Times. Available online