National Academy of Sciences pulls climate chapter from judges’ manual

National Academy of Sciences pulls climate chapter from judges’ manual

President Donald Trump and other Republican officials had criticized this chapter as biased against fossil fuel companies

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) pulled a chapter on climate from its scientific reference manual for judges, the organization said in a statement released on Friday.

The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence is produced in concert with the Federal Judicial Center (FJC); its latest edition was released in 2025 and, for the first time , included a chapter on climate change. The manual is designed to help judges reason through legal cases that touch on complex scientific topics.

The decision to nix the chapter follows criticism from President Donald Trump and other Republican officials. Trump claimed on social media that the organization’s climate guidance was “biased,” “fraudulent” and “misleading.” The Federal Judicial Center pulled the chapter in February 2026.

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“The NAS has determined that questions about the processes used to develop the chapter warrant an independent review, and the chapter will not appear on our website while that review is underway,” NAS said in its statement.

The chapter, “Reference Guide on Climate Science,” included information about the greenhouse effect, atmospheric cycling, peer-reviewed research, attribution science , and more, according to a copy stored on the Internet Archive.