Federal Employees Hunkering Down In The Face Of Trump, Musk Threats

Federal workers at NOAA are among those at 
government agencies who are scrubbing their social
media accounts to appease Donald Trump. 
If someone says something "outrageous" like
climate change is real, these workers
fear retribution from the thin-skinned
soon to be president. 

 Donald Trump hasn't even officially taken office yet, and already climate science is already starting to take a hit.  

Trump hates anyone he thinks is disloyal to him.  Disloyalty in his mind includes any disagreement with his worldview. 

Since Trump still thinks climate change is a hoax and the overwhelming majority of scientists think the opposite, those professionals are now vulnerable. Especially those who work for the federal government. 

The includes anyone from National Weather Service meteorologist, to climatologists to the many who work in government agencies that deal with the environment.  The environment, after all, is affected by climate change.  

These scientists are hunkering down. 

According to the Washington Post:

"One meteorologist at the National Weather Service recently deleted all references on his social media accounts to the threats climate change poses for extreme weather, along with any mention of union support, 'to make everything about me much more apolitical,' he said. Trump has long rejected climate science and cast doubt on the dangers of climate change." 

The National Weather Service is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which could end up being dismantled, if the folks who came up with Project 2025 or Elon Musk's dreams come true

"I generally take people at their word, and these people have said some pretty awful things about federal workers," the meteorologist told the Washington Post. He remained anonymous because he doesn't want a target on  his back from Trump or his minions.

During Trump' first term, some federal climate change researchers left those jobs and were not replaced, but at least none of them were fired over Trump's anti-climate ideology.

This time, nobody is so sure. 

Some divisions are changing the names of research projects so they don't get flagged by Trump's minions as pro-environment type activities, according to WaPo. Also, some agencies are removing the names of career scientists from projects so they don't garner Trump's negative attention. 

I don't know whether all this prep is fear, or resistance, or self-preservation or all of the above. But it's a shame people have to hide their professions from the soon to be leader in what is supposedly a free country. 

Autocracy has arrived. And it's only going to get worse.