The Trump administration is considering drastic budget cuts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including measures that would effectively end much of the agency’s prominent climate change research.
The proposal, revealed in a “passback” document used in the early stages of drafting the president’s annual budget request, suggests slashing NOAA’s overall funding by nearly $1.7 billion, reducing its budget to $4.5 billion.
A major focus of the proposed cuts targets NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).
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The document suggests eliminating OAR as a standalone line office and cutting its budget down to roughly $171 million. Critically, this includes eliminating “all funding for climate, weather, and ocean Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes,” according to the document.
If Congress enacted these proposals, they could lead to the closure of certain research programs and facilities, including the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and the Global Monitoring Laboratory.
These cuts could also impact partnerships with universities across the country that collaborate with NOAA, one of the world’s leading climate science agencies, on climate and earth system studies.
“Reaching balance requires: resetting the proper balance between Federal and State responsibilities with a renewed emphasis on federalism; eliminating the Federal Government’s support of woke ideology; protecting the American people by deconstructing a wasteful and weaponized bureaucracy; and identifying and eliminating wasteful spending,” the document states.
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Further proposed changes outlined in the document include:
- Halving the budget of the National Ocean Service to $334 million.
- Cutting over $300 million from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
- Moving the Space Weather Prediction Center from NOAA to the Department of Homeland Security.
While the document is labeled “pre-decisional” and represents the White House Office of Management and Budget’s initial stance subject to change, it signals the administration’s priorities.
“The Department should act now to align existing resources and activities to the direction of the Passback,” the memo reads, stating that it is necessary to cut “unsustainable costs” in NOAA’s satellite programs.
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