Dec 18, 2025 09:52 PM
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/shu...vindictive
EXERPTS: Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced that it was taking steps to shut down the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). [...] Before proceeding — full disclosure — I am not a neutral observer. I have NCAR to thank for my entire career.
[...] NCAR is not a government laboratory — it is an FFRDC (Federally Funded Research and Development Center) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and overseen by a non-profit called the University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), which is overseen by a consortium of more than 100 universities.
FFRDCs exist to support science in the public interest, but these organizations are not established in legislation, but administratively through the executive branch. Consequently, an administration also has the authority to terminate an FFRDC...
[...] NCAR was founded in 1960 to conduct atmospheric sciences research at a scale larger than could be conducted at any single university...
[...] The Trump administration’s claim that NCAR is a home to “climate alarmism” is simply false.
Trust me — I call out politicized climate science all the time, and NCAR is not even on the list of institutions that I’d name in this category. NCAR has in the past certainly been home to climate activists (like Steve Schneider or Kevin Trenberth) and has also taken on institutional positions that arguably went beyond its mission, but today NCAR is just a big science organization filled with nerds trying to make the world a better place.
Climate research is just a small slice of NCAR’s overall activities. Remarkably, NCAR’s 2025-2029 Strategic Plan does not even mention the word “climate,” much less “climate change.” That omission was surely a tactical choice, given the current political environment. The larger point is that NCAR conducts a vast array of important research with nothing to do with climate science, policy, or politics.
I have no inside information, but it sure looks like the Trump Administration is taking a metaphorical sledgehammer to institutions that might have anything to do with something somehow related to “climate.” The announced termination of NCAR might also have something to do with President Trump’s recent anger at the Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis (a Democrat — well, a libertarian really, but I digress!). Either way, it is “Own the Libs” as science policy.
The announced shuttering of NCAR follows no apparent strategy, meets no stated national need, and will cause irreparible harm to the U.S. scientific community, while decimating atmospheric sciences research — which is central to the economy and public safety... (MORE - missing details)
EXERPTS: Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced that it was taking steps to shut down the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). [...] Before proceeding — full disclosure — I am not a neutral observer. I have NCAR to thank for my entire career.
[...] NCAR is not a government laboratory — it is an FFRDC (Federally Funded Research and Development Center) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and overseen by a non-profit called the University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), which is overseen by a consortium of more than 100 universities.
FFRDCs exist to support science in the public interest, but these organizations are not established in legislation, but administratively through the executive branch. Consequently, an administration also has the authority to terminate an FFRDC...
[...] NCAR was founded in 1960 to conduct atmospheric sciences research at a scale larger than could be conducted at any single university...
[...] The Trump administration’s claim that NCAR is a home to “climate alarmism” is simply false.
Trust me — I call out politicized climate science all the time, and NCAR is not even on the list of institutions that I’d name in this category. NCAR has in the past certainly been home to climate activists (like Steve Schneider or Kevin Trenberth) and has also taken on institutional positions that arguably went beyond its mission, but today NCAR is just a big science organization filled with nerds trying to make the world a better place.
Climate research is just a small slice of NCAR’s overall activities. Remarkably, NCAR’s 2025-2029 Strategic Plan does not even mention the word “climate,” much less “climate change.” That omission was surely a tactical choice, given the current political environment. The larger point is that NCAR conducts a vast array of important research with nothing to do with climate science, policy, or politics.
I have no inside information, but it sure looks like the Trump Administration is taking a metaphorical sledgehammer to institutions that might have anything to do with something somehow related to “climate.” The announced termination of NCAR might also have something to do with President Trump’s recent anger at the Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis (a Democrat — well, a libertarian really, but I digress!). Either way, it is “Own the Libs” as science policy.
The announced shuttering of NCAR follows no apparent strategy, meets no stated national need, and will cause irreparible harm to the U.S. scientific community, while decimating atmospheric sciences research — which is central to the economy and public safety... (MORE - missing details)