The Trump administration announced plans this week to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a climate center headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent federal agency.
Russ Vought, U.S. Office of Management and Budget director, broke the news on social media: “The NSF will be breaking up the NCAR in Boulder, Colorado,” Vought wrote on X.
“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,” Vought added. Vought also has a seat on the National Capital Planning Commission, and was an architect of Project 2025.
The NCAR was founded in 1960 and is based at Mesa Laboratory, completed in 1966 by I. M. Pei. The lab building is inspired by Anasazi architecture and features a pinkish concrete to meet the context. Outside Boulder, the NCAR operates facilities in Wyoming and Hawaii.
Antonio Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), which manages the NSF NCAR, said in a statement: “We are aware of reports that the Trump administration is proposing to break up the NSF NCAR. We do not have additional information about any such plan.”
“NSF NCAR’s research is crucial for building American prosperity by protecting lives and property, supporting the economy, and strengthening national security,” Busalacchi continued. “Any plans to dismantle NSF NCAR would set back our nation’s ability to predict, prepare for, and respond to severe weather and other natural disasters.”
The research lab has built supercomputers and worked on radar tools for tracking weather events. Its work has modeled flooding and explored how solar activity affects the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is now fighting to save the NCAR.
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