The Dumpf administration said yesterday it was breaking up one of the world’s preeminent earth and atmospheric research institutions over concerns about “climate alarmism” — a move some Democratic state officials and scientists called an assault on science and education. And for what? Petro dollars, and also Trump’s petty retribution against the governor for not honoring his pardon of Tina Peters. Via the Washington Post:
“The National Science Foundation will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado,” wrote Russell Vought, the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget on X. “This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”
Silly me. I thought it was the massive thousand-year floods, tornados, and extreme hurricanes that got people’s attention But of course Mr. Project 2025 has to stroke his sponsors..
The NCAR laboratory in Boulder was founded in 1960 at the base of the Rocky Mountains to conduct research and educate future scientists. Its resources include supercomputers, valuable datasets and high-tech research planes.
Its dismantling would be a major loss for scientific research, said Kevin Trenberth, a distinguished scholar at NCAR and an honorary academic in physics at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Trenberth, who joined NCAR in 1984 and officially retired in 2020, said the research center is key to advanced climate science discoveries as well as in informing the climate models that produce the weather forecasts we see on the nightly news.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said in a statement that the state had not received information about the administration’s intentions to dismantle NCAR.
“If true, public safety is at risk and science is being attacked,” said Polis. “Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science. NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families.”
In his social media post, Vought said that “any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location” — but did not specify further.
https://bsky.app/profile/cdthomas.bsky.social/post/3ma5tvprwxk2p
