Boulder research center to be nixed over climate studies
The Trump administration is considering dismantling an entire research lab because it houses the nation’s largest federal climate change program, which has generated “climate alarmism,” top officials say.
White House Budget Director Russell Vought, co-author of Project 2025 who once declared his intention to traumatize federal workers and roll back environmental regulations, announced the plan Tuesday evening.
“The National Science Foundation will dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado,” he posted on X Tuesday evening with a link to USA Today, which was first to report the news. “This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarm in the country. A full review is underway and all vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”
Scientists said it would be difficult to separate climate research from NCAR’s overall function, which is to study the Earth’s atmosphere and everything that affects it, and that the loss would extend well beyond climate change research.
“Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science as a whole. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the type of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that underpins a half-century of progress in forecasting, early warning, and increased resilience,” climate scientist Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote on of atmospheric modeling than perhaps any other entity in the world.”
Climate change is just one of the Research Lab’s programs, which globally support research aimed at predicting, preparing for, and responding to extreme weather events and other natural disasters, and it is one of the leading institutions in the world housing this work, UCAR President Antonio Busalacchi said in a statement. A nonprofit consortium of more than 130 colleges and universities operates the laboratory under the auspices of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
In a brief statement, the foundation presented the plan as a reorganization, or “realignment,” designed “to keep America at the forefront of science, engineering, and technology” through structural changes that would “increase our efficiency and effectiveness.”
Scientists, Boulder officials, business leaders and educators said the move would have no effect.
It would be sheer madness to eliminate an institution that is “literally our global mothership,” Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist and professor emeritus at Texas Tech University, wrote on »
The imprint of climate change is evident in every system studied, affecting daily life in myriad ways, from national security to the economy, experts say.
“Climate change is real, but NCAR’s work goes well beyond climate science,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. “NCAR provides data on severe weather events like fires and floods that help our nation save lives and property, and avoid devastation for families. »
With news feed services
