The Trump administration deleted thousands of energy conservation web pages from the Department of Energy website during a historic heatwave, following Republican criticism of a request to set AC to 78 degrees. The deletions removed useful information on insulation, water conservation, and solar energy.
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The US Department of Energy reportedly deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heatwave tears across the country. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zohran Mamdani <a href="https://people.com/zohran-mamdani-urges-new-yorkers-to-set-ac-to-78-during-heat-wave-12011717">asking New Yorkers</a> to help reduce strain on the grid by setting their <a href="https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2072411003170472359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2072411003170472359%7Ctwgr%5E87619d0c8f6038d03ca0b1af7f4f9a1ca816117a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fnew-yorkers-conserve-power-heat-wave-will-times-square-go-dark-12147932">AC to 78 degrees</a>. Republicans like Ted Cruz (who has <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/ted-cruz-cancun-power-outage/">famously fled</a> severe weather in his home state), Nikki Haley, and Representative Nancy Mace (South Carolina) <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/zohran-mamdani-78-degrees/">quickly</a> <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/5952239-nyc-mayor-thermostat-criticism/">pounced</a>, framing the request as socialism and an act of war on women in menopause (the Republican Party is notoriously concerned about women's health).</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Of course, this i …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/961449/white-house-mamdani-heatwave-deletion">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# White House deletes thousands of web pages about energy conservation as heatwave slams US
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/policy/961449/white-house-mamdani-heatwave-deletion](https://www.theverge.com/policy/961449/white-house-mamdani-heatwave-deletion)
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Terrence O'Brien
is the Verge’s weekend editor\. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths\.
The US Department of Energy reportedly deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heatwave tears across the country\.
The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zohran Mamdani[asking New Yorkers](https://people.com/zohran-mamdani-urges-new-yorkers-to-set-ac-to-78-during-heat-wave-12011717)to help reduce strain on the grid by setting their[AC to 78 degrees](https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2072411003170472359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2072411003170472359%7Ctwgr%5E87619d0c8f6038d03ca0b1af7f4f9a1ca816117a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fnew-yorkers-conserve-power-heat-wave-will-times-square-go-dark-12147932)\. Republicans like Ted Cruz \(who has[famously fled](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/ted-cruz-cancun-power-outage/)severe weather in his home state\), Nikki Haley, and Representative Nancy Mace \(South Carolina\)[quickly](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/zohran-mamdani-78-degrees/)[pounced](https://thehill.com/homenews/5952239-nyc-mayor-thermostat-criticism/), framing the request as socialism and an act of war on women in menopause \(the Republican Party is notoriously concerned about women’s health\)\.
Of course, this is pretty[standard](https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/comments/1ume6sa/the_response_to_mamdanis_request_for_ac_units_to/)advice during a heatwave\. It was the[official stance](https://www.instagram.com/p/DaTWwp4CcfJ/)of the Department of Energy that Americans should set their thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees, and[Republican](https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/magnolia/news/article/Perry-urges-Texans-to-conserve-energy-as-high-9414124.php)governors in deep red states like[Texas](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/ted-cruz-energy-recommendation-power-grid-new-york-22330358.php)have issued the same advice in the past — including current governor[Greg Abbott](https://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/12/abbott-texans-try-use-less-power/)\.
The deletions by the Trump administration are broad and indiscriminate\. While pages that would support Mamdani’s request to lower thermostats were deleted, so too were pages about water conservation, types of insulation, and its solar decathlon challenge\. The[Internet Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/*)preserved the pages that have been lost\.
Temperatures topped 95 degrees for four straight days in New York City, including two days over 100 degrees\. Those sorts of temperatures put significant strain on the electrical grid, especially when more people are home during a holiday weekend\. Setting thermostats to 78 degrees can help prevent blackouts that would leave people without air conditioning and vulnerable to the heat\.
On average, extreme heat is responsible for[more deaths](https://weather.com/2026/06/30/safety/heat/americas-deadliest-weather-heat-waves)in the US than floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined, according to data from the CDC and NOAA\.
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- Terrence O'Brien
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