BOULDER, Colo. — The Trump administration is seeking to dismantle the Boulder-based National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), according to Russ Vought, the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget.
In an X post Tuesday, Vought said that the NCAR facility in Boulder is “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”
He said that a “comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”
Established in 1960, NCAR is a federally-funded research organization that studies climate science, meteorology and environmental impacts.
While the specifics of how NCAR might be broken up were not immediately clear, the U.S. National Science Foundation – the primary funding source for NCAR – hinted in a press bulletin Wednesday that it would "restructure" the agency.
"The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today that the agency is reviewing the structure of the research and observational capabilities operated by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)," the statement read. "NSF remains committed to providing world-class infrastructure for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting, and other critical functions. To do so, NSF will be engaging with partner agencies, the research community, and other interested parties to solicit feedback for rescoping the functions of the work currently performed by NCAR."
In his own statement Tuesday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he had not received information regarding the claims.
“If true, public safety is at risk and science is being attacked. Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science," his statement read in part. "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 our competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery."
Polis also attacked a separate Trump decision this week to terminate transportation grants that would have funded EV infrastructure and rail improvements in Colorado.
“Pulling critical transportation infrastructure funding makes our freight rail corridors, which are critical to commerce, less safe," Polis's statement continued. "Canceling rail safety funding while claiming to care about ‘core infrastructure’ is like ripping out the seatbelts and calling it efficiency. Colorado was awarded grants for real safety and infrastructure improvements."
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