West Point professor sues after being fired for refusing to omit human causes of climate change

A tenured science professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, claims he was fired for refusing to omit the human causes of climate change from his teaching. He has now filed a federal lawsuit against the institution.

Dr. Adam Kalkstein, a professor of geography, told The New York Times that Brigadier General Shane Reeves, the dean of West Point’s academic board, ordered him last year to remove all references to human contributions to climate change, citing President Trump’s agenda as commander in chief. Kalkstein told Reeves that such a change would be immoral and potentially illegal. When Reeves suggested Kalkstein resign, Kalkstein declined, and the dean reportedly left the room abruptly.

“We’re only telling cadets part of the story. We’re lying to them, deceiving them. It would be like trying to teach the law without being able to even mention the Constitution,” Kalkstein said during the meeting, according to Stars and Stripes.

Six months later, Kalkstein—a tenured professor—was informed his contract would not be renewed. On Monday, he sued West Point in the Southern District of New York, alleging violations of his First Amendment rights. The lawsuit claims the institution’s order would require Kalkstein “to omit a massive, fundamental, essential component of the course and to defy science.”

According to the Times, Kalkstein is a conservative Republican who believes military cadets must understand the truth about climate change for national security reasons, not social justice. He wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, arguing that knowledge of climate change causes is critical for competing over Arctic resources and understanding why sea ice is melting.

Hegseth, along with the broader Trump administration, is working to eliminate “wokeness” from government and military institutions—including any acknowledgment of climate change. Early in his tenure last year, Hegseth posted on X: “The @DeptofDefense does not do climate change crap. We do training and warfighting.”

This marks a sharp departure from previous administrations. In 2021, the Pentagon concluded in a report that “increasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks.”

Those risks remain, but the Trump administration is ignoring the science for financial and culture-war reasons. Professors like Kalkstein—and the education of America’s future military officers—are among the casualties.

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