West Point’s only climate scientist fired after continuing to teach human causes of climate change
Adam Kalkstein compared administration’s order to ‘trying to teach the law’ without mentioning ‘the constitution’ The only climate scientist teaching at West Point, the US army’s military academy, was fired after he resisted an order to stop teaching about the human causes of the climate emergency, a lawsuit claims. Dr Adam Kalkstein, a civilian professor of geography at the New York institution,…
Dr. Adam Kalkstein, the sole climate scientist at West Point, the United States Army's military academy, was dismissed after he persisted in teaching about the human causes of climate change, according to a lawsuit. The climate researcher claimed that an order to eliminate content on human-induced climate change from the curriculum was both unethical and potentially unlawful.
Kalkstein likened the situation to teaching the law without mentioning the Constitution, an analogy he believed emphasized the seriousness of his stance. The disagreement with Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves, then the dean of West Point's academic board, culminated in an explosive meeting in November 2025, where Kalkstein compared the administration's directive to trying to teach the law without acknowledging the Constitution.
Reeves reportedly stormed out of the meeting, stating that Donald Trump was the commander-in-chief and set the academy's agenda. Kalkstein's lawyer, Michael Sussman, argued that the professor is a conservative Republican who believes military students should be informed about the realities of climate change for the sake of national security.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses West Point of infringing on Kalkstein's First Amendment rights to free speech.
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