The Department of Energy has instituted a list of banned words at the direction of a Trump appointee. The list includes many terms that are widely considered politically neutral. This guidance was sent in an email to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The email instructed staff to ensure every team member was aware of the latest list of words to avoid.
The forbidden terms include climate change, green, decarbonization, energy transition, sustainability, sustainable, subsidies, tax breaks, tax credits, and carbon footprint. The word emissions is also on the banned list. The report indicates the term emissions is apparently viewed as implying a level of negativity, despite its neutral dictionary definition. The United States Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases are not simply emissions but can instead be regulated as air pollutants.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy was established in the late 1970s after several government agencies were consolidated. Its creation was a response to the 1973 energy crisis, which caused oil prices to skyrocket. The office’s original intent was to foster renewable energy and energy efficiency to help stabilize the American economy from price shocks in commodity markets like oil and gas.
President Trump and his appointees have decided to base the American economy on expanded use of those same commodities. In speeches and official communications, the Trump administration has consistently referred to anything related to the energy transition as the green energy scam. Last week in a speech at the United Nations, Trump criticized countries around the world for investing in technologies like solar, wind, and batteries, stating that their countries would fail.
Despite this rhetoric, global investment in renewable energy reached a new record in the first half of 2025. Offshore wind and small-scale solar projects helped push investment up ten percent from the previous year to a total of three hundred eighty-six billion dollars.