Scientists Vow to Fight Trump Administration’s Proposal to Dimantle Key Climate Research Hub in Colorado

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Russell Vought, the Director of the White House’s office and management budget, said in a social media post that the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, is “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”

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Colorado officials and scientists have vowed to fight a proposal by the Trump administration to dismantle a key climate research center in the state renowned for advances in the study of weather patterns, including tropical cyclones.

Founded in 1960 the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. It employs around 830 people across its many laboratories, which provide critical data on air quality and tools to improve aircraft safety and wildfire mitigation as well as forecasts of droughts, extreme precipitation events and tropical cyclones. It is sponsored and funded by the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency.

In a post on social media X, Director of the White House’s office and management budget Russell Vought called the NCAR “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country” and said a “comprehensive review” is underway. A senior White House official called it a stronghold for left-wing climate activism, according to Bloomberg.

Climate scientists have vowed to fight the proposal. Roger Pielke Jr, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute thinktank, called the facility “a crown jewel of the US scientific enterprise,” adding that it “deserves to be improved not shuttered.”

Tim Raupach, Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney, said losing NCAR would be a “tragedy”. “Scientists around the world use science and models developed at [NCAR] to understand the climate, forecast the weather, and protect people from climate/weather extremes. A lot of people are safer because of NCAR,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

State officials have also criticized the plan, with Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis saying it would put “public safety at risk.”

“NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families. If these cuts move forward we will lose out competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery,” Polis wrote on social media.

The decision marks another escalation in the Trump administration’s broader campaign against federal climate science and environmental regulation. Since taking office, President Trump, a climate change denialist, has overturned much of the country’s progress on climate, reviving a decaying coal industry, halting work on the National Climate Assessment, and rolling back dozens of environmental rules, including those regulating pollution from vehicles and power plants, national air quality standards for particulate matter, and wastewater discharges for oil and gas extraction facilities.

Featured image: Wally Gobetz/Flickr.