After a protracted legal battle, President Donald Trump has been given permission to continue erasing the truth about climate change from America’s national parks.
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Yesterday (Thursday, July 2), the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston temporarily reversed a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to reinstall dozens of exhibits it had removed from national parks for exposing the country in a “negative light.”
This includes factually accurate representations on topics such as climate change and U.S. involvement in the slave trade.
President Trump’s mission to take climate change out of national parks
Last year, the president signed an executive order aimed at “bringing truth and sanity back to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks.
It directed the Interior Department to ensure these sites do not display elements that “inappropriately disparage America’s past or way of life.” Interior Minister Sahu Burgum later directed the removal of “inappropriate partisan ideology”.
The National Park Conservation Association, the American State Local History Association, the National Park Rangers Association, and the Union of Concerned Scientists have joined together to file a lawsuit to block the government’s efforts.
“National parks serve as our nation’s living classrooms, bringing science and history to life for visitors,” Alan Spears, NPCA’s senior director of cultural resources, told The Associated Press last year.
“As Americans, we have a right to national parks that tell stories of our nation’s triumphs and heartbreaks alike. We can address the truth.”
In June, a district court judge sided with the NGOs and ordered the federal government to reinstall the removed materials within 21 days.
But the appeals court argued this week that lower courts were wrong to suggest that President Trump’s order would cause “irreparable harm” if the materials at issue were not promptly returned, a key issue in the case.
This means that the administration currently has discretionary powers to continue removing signs it deems “ideological indoctrination.”
“Another example of erasure and blame”
In September 2025, physical signs at two popular destinations in Maine’s Acadia National Park were removed. They informed visitors about the changing climate in the park, which is witnessing more frequent storms, heavier rainfall and rising temperatures.
“There are decades of scientific research demonstrating the impacts of climate change on Acadia National Park, including prolonged droughts, more intense precipitation events, coastal storms (and) sea level rise,” NPCA’s Todd Martin said last year.
“The signs taken down at Acadia are just one example of the erasure and condemnation we have seen in our parks in recent weeks and months.”
The Home Office infamously ordered a famous photo titled “Scourged Black” to be removed from at least one national park site.
An 1863 photograph shows an enslaved man named Peter with severe whipping wounds on his back.
US prepares for heat wave
Mr. Trump’s victory came under scorching temperatures that would clash with the United States’ Fourth of July celebrations.
New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani recently advised residents to stay cool indoors and avoid “extreme temperatures,” but in Hamptonboro, the air conditioning on a bus carrying cadets from the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps malfunctioned, resulting in multiple cases of heatstroke.
Jeff Schlegelmilch, an associate professor at Columbia University’s climate school, says heat is one of the likely causes of climate change.
“We continue to see impacts such as longer summers, warmer temperatures, faster temperatures, increased water evaporation, and higher humidity,” he added.
But Americans can only make the connection if they are told it exists.
