Trump’s Energy Department forbids staff from saying ‘climate change’ or ‘green’

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reportedly implemented a list of banned words and phrases at the direction of a Trump administration appointee, restricting employees from using terms commonly associated with renewable energy and environmental policy.

According to Politico, which obtained the internal memo, the directive was sent on Friday to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) — an agency within the DOE tasked with promoting clean energy innovation.

“Please ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid,” wrote Rachael Overbey, EERE special advisor, in an email cited by the publication.

A List of Banned Terms

The memo instructed staff to avoid using words such as:

• climate change
• green
• decarbonization
• energy transition
• sustainability / sustainable
• subsidies
• tax breaks
• tax credits
• carbon footprint
• emissions

The report noted that the ban even includes the term “emissions,” which the memo described as implying negativity. This stance conflicts with long-standing environmental terminology — especially given that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases are not just “emissions,” but pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

The Office’s Origins and Mission

The EERE was founded in the late 1970s, following the 1973 oil crisis, when the U.S. government consolidated several agencies to encourage energy efficiency and renewable energy development. Its mission was to reduce the country’s reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets and strengthen the American economy against price shocks in commodities such as oil and gas.

However, under President Trump, the administration has pursued the opposite strategy — expanding fossil fuel production and deriding renewable energy as economically unreliable.

Administration Rhetoric on Renewable Energy

President Donald Trump and his appointees have consistently referred to renewable initiatives as part of what they call a “green energy scam.” In his speech at the United Nations last week, Trump criticised countries investing in solar, wind, and battery technology, declaring:

“Your country is going to fail.”

Despite such rhetoric, global investment in renewable energy continues to grow. According to BloombergNEF, investments in offshore wind and small-scale solar projects helped drive a 10% year-over-year increase in the first half of 2025, reaching a record $386 billion worldwide.