Energy Dept. Email Instructs Staff to Avoid 'Climate Change' Term
The Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy was told in an internal email to avoid using phrases such as "climate change," "decarbonization," "clean energy" and "energy transition" in websites, reports and funding documents, according to an email obtained by NPR and first reported by Politico on Sept. 30, 2025. The DOE press secretary denied there is a directive banning the terms, but the guidance — aimed at the office that manages billions in clean‑energy research funding — raises questions about how the administration is shaping federal climate communications.
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🔍 Key Facts
- Internal email obtained by NPR instructed staff in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to avoid roughly a dozen phrases, including "climate change", "decarbonization", "clean energy", and "energy transition".
- Office affected: DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the largest federal funder of clean energy technology (budget cited as $3.46 billion in FY2023).
- Official response: DOE press secretary Ben Dietderich told NPR the Department has 'no directive' instructing employees to avoid those phrases; the email was also first reported by Politico on Sept. 30, 2025.