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,…
Adam Kalkstein, the sole climate scientist at West Point, the US military academy, has been fired after he continued to teach the human causes of climate change despite an executive directive to cease such instruction. The lawsuit claims that Kalkstein's termination occurred after a contentious meeting in November 2025 with Brig Gen Shane Reeves, then the dean of West Point's academic board.
Kalkstein had informed Reeves that the order to remove content about human-caused climate change from the curriculum was both immoral and potentially illegal, likening it to teaching the law without mentioning the constitution. Reeves reportedly stormed out of the meeting after remarking that Donald Trump served as the academy's commander-in-chief.
The incident was reported by Stars and Stripes and the New York Times. Kalkstein's lawsuit is the second related to restricted academic freedoms at West Point, following Tim Bakken, a long-serving law professor, who also faced disciplinary action after refusing to comply with a Trump administration policy requiring approval before publishing or speaking on certain topics.
The lawsuit filed by Kalkstein alleges that the academy violated his First Amendment rights to free speech. The academy has declined to comment on the allegations pending litigation.
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