Trump Administration Threatens to Dismantle Key Climate Research Center
▼ Summary
– The head of the Office of Management and Budget announced the breakup of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a major U.S. climate research center.
– The official criticized NCAR as a source of “climate alarmism” and targeted its diversity initiatives, which were previously uncontroversial.
– NCAR conducts vital research on climate, weather, and atmospheric phenomena and is managed by a nonprofit representing over 100 educational institutions.
– The plan is to dismantle specific climate-related research while moving other work, but the government’s legal authority to enforce this is unclear.
– The managing nonprofit stated it first learned of the plan from the news report, and scientists widely decry the move as a crippling blow to U.S. climate research.
A significant federal climate research center faces potential dismantlement following a statement from the White House budget office. The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, declared the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will be “broken up,” labeling it a primary source of climate alarmism. This proposed action represents a severe threat to the United States’ scientific capacity for understanding weather patterns, atmospheric chemistry, and long-term climate change, drawing immediate criticism from the research community.
Vought first made his comments to USA Today, later amplifying them on social media. He criticized not only the center’s scientific focus but also what he described as “woke” activities, which appear to reference standard, long-standing initiatives designed to broaden participation in the sciences among underrepresented groups. Prior to this administration, such diversity and inclusion efforts were largely non-controversial within the scientific establishment.
NCAR operates a major facility in Boulder, Colorado, and runs a critical supercomputing center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Its work is funded largely through the National Science Foundation, while its daily management falls to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), a nonprofit consortium of over 130 academic institutions. The center’s research portfolio extends beyond climate science to include studies on space weather, air quality, and the complex interactions between the atmosphere and human society. NCAR maintains extensive public resources to explain how its research benefits areas like aviation safety, water resource management, and renewable energy.
The budget director stated the administration intends to target what he called “green new scam research activities,” while redistributing other functions to different institutions. However, the federal government does not directly manage NCAR’s operations, and the legal authority to enforce such a breakup remains unclear. The specific agreements between the National Science Foundation and UCAR may not permit this kind of direct intervention. UCAR has issued a public response noting that the USA Today report was its first notification of the matter, indicating a lack of prior consultation. The National Science Foundation has not yet provided clarification on its stance or the contractual logistics involved.
(Source: Ars Technica)