Trump administration plans to break up largest federal climate research center

The Trump administration plans to break up Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, the largest federal climate research lab.

Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced the plan Tuesday in a statement on X.

“The National Science Foundation will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado,” Vought wrote, linking to a story from USA Today, which was first to report on the administration’s effort. “This 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.”

The move would be a major setback for climate research in the United States, at a moment when the United Nations and other world leaders have said time is running out to prevent the most devastating effects of global warming.

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, NCAR’s parent organization, said in a statement Tuesday that it was aware of reports on a plan to shut down the center but did not have any information about it.

“We look forward to working with the administration to continue our focus on safeguarding the safety and prosperity of our nation,” Antonio Busalacchi, president of UCAR, said in the statement.

In response to NBC News’ inquiry about the plan for NCAR, a senior White House official took aim at Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat.

“Maybe if Colorado had a governor who actually wanted to work with President Trump, his constituents would be better served,” the official said.

The official described NCAR as “the premier research stronghold for left-wing climate lunacy” and said that breaking it up would “eliminate Green New Scam research activities.”

Polis said in a statement Tuesday that Colorado has not received information from the administration about a plan to dismantle NCAR but that, if true, it would amount to an attack on science.

“Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science,” Polis said. “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.”

Many in the climate and weather community reacted with shock to the announcement.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote on X that it would be a “terrible blow to American science, writ large.”

“It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, & disaster research underpinning half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, & increased resilience,” Swain said, adding that the reverberations would extend throughout the global weather and climate community.

“NCAR has played a greater cumulative role in advancing weather prediction & atmospheric modeling than perhaps any other single entity in the world,” he said.

Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, said dismantling NCAR would be “like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.”

“Nearly everyone who researches climate and weather — not only in the US, but around the world — has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources,” she wrote on X.

Andy Hazelton, an associate scientist at the University of Miami Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, called the move “extremely short-sighted.”

Some Democrats have vowed to fight NCAR’s closure.

“A deeply dangerous & blatantly retaliatory action by the Trump administration,” Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., whose district includes the climate research facility, wrote on X. “NCAR is one of the most renowned scientific facilities in the WORLD — where scientists perform cutting-edge research everyday. We will fight this reckless directive with every legal tool we have.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com