The White House deletes thousands of web pages about energy conservation as the heat wave hits the United States

It is reported that the US Department of Energy deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heat wave rips across the country.

The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zahran Mamdani asking New Yorkers to help reduce stress on the grid by setting the air conditioner to 78 degrees. Republicans like Ted Cruz (who famously fled his state’s extreme weather), Nikki Haley, and Rep. Nancy Mace (South Carolina), quickly pounced, framing the demand as socialism and an act of war on menopausal women (the GOP is concerned about women’s health).

Of course, this is fairly standard advice during a heatwave. The Department of Energy’s official position has been that Americans should set their thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees, and Republican governors in deep red states like Texas have issued the same advice in the past — including current Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Trump administration’s deletions are broad and indiscriminate. While pages that would support Mamdani’s request to lower thermostats were deleted, pages related to water conservation, types of insulation, and the Solar Decathlon Challenge were also deleted. The Internet Archive preserves the missing pages.

Temperatures exceeded 95 degrees for four straight days in New York City, including two days over 100 degrees. These temperatures put a lot of stress on the electrical grid, especially when more people are home over the weekend. Setting thermostats to 78 degrees can help prevent power outages that could leave people without air conditioning and vulnerable to heat.

On average, extreme heat is responsible for more deaths in the United States than deaths from floods and hurricanes combined, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).