Trump Administration Cripples Climate Research

The Trump administration has launched a sweeping attack on federal climate research, dismissing it as wasteful and inconvenient. Since taking office, Trump has fired or let go hundreds of climate and weather scientists, cut ties with academic and private-sector researchers, and eliminated major climate programs. Grants for climate research have been frozen or cut, and the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program is under threat of closure.
The administration has also withdrawn from international climate cooperation and slowed contracts for climate-related projects, including the upkeep of polar weather satellites. Trump’s budget proposals call for deeper cuts to climate research at NOAA and NASA, two of the world’s top science agencies.
Scientists warn that these actions are designed to silence research that contradicts the administration’s fossil fuel-friendly agenda. Andrew Dessler of Texas A&M University says the moves aim to create lasting damage to humanity’s understanding of global warming.
The White House justifies the cuts as cost-saving measures, claiming previous research was wasteful. However, scientists argue the moves are politically motivated, with one former NOAA administrator comparing them to the administration’s approach to Covid data collection during Trump’s first term.
The administration’s actions threaten to blind the U.S. and the world to the impacts of fossil fuel use, leaving policymakers and the public in the dark about climate risks.

Published: 6/16/2025