One of America’s most celebrated—and persecuted—climate scientists is accusing the new U.S. administration of “serving as agents for fossil fuel interests like ExxonMobil and the Koch Brothers” by dismantling scientific programs that, among other things, provide U.S. citizens and the world with vital information about anticipated storms, droughts, and floods.
“The truth is now laid bare,” Penn State University climatologist Michael Mann told Think Progress. “It’s an all-out assault on Earth.”
- The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
- You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
- The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
Quoting Mann, and citing a White House budget memo published by the Washington Post, blogger and Climate Progress founding editor Joe Romm warns that “the Trump administration wants a 17% cut in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s overall budget — with the deepest cuts coming from earth observation. NOAA’s satellite program would be cut by more than a half-billion dollars. These cuts would be particularly dangerous given that the Trump team has suggested eliminating NASA’s Earth observation program and shifting its work over to NOAA.”
Monitoring studies based on satellites, marine buoys, and other data sources “inform NOAA’s understanding of what is changing in the global climate, and what is happening more immediately in the weather flows that affect Americans,” Romm explains.
The cuts, former NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco told the Post, “will compromise NOAA’s mission of keeping Americans safe from extreme weather and providing forecasts that allow businesses and citizens to make smart plans.”
