By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The Trump administration said on Tuesday evening it will dissolve a key federal climate science research center in Colorado, its latest effort to defund such research.
Ross Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the administration will break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, which conducts earth systems scientific research, saying the facility “is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”
“A comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location,” Vought wrote in a post on X on Tuesday night.
The move is the Trump administration’s latest effort to gut U.S. research related to climate change as well as federal agencies that have previously worked on climate-related research and greenhouse gas regulations.
The administration has proposed a $1.33 billion, or 28% cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s operations, research, and facilities budget this year, and a 75% cut to its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which would eliminate the agency’s core climate science work.
Earlier this year it also dismissed all contributors to the National Climate Assessment, the study that informs federal and local governments on how to prepare for climate change impacts.
Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis said he had not been officially notified of the cuts by the administration and warned that killing NCAR would give foreign rivals a competitive advantage.
“NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families,” Polis said in a statement.
“If these cuts move forward we will lose our competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery,” he said.
NCAR builds and maintains research tools that are widely used across the scientific community as well as by governments, and international climate‑assessment bodies. These include the community earth system model, weather research and forecasting and climate models.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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