BOULDER — A business leader and elected officials in Colorado are sharply attacking the Trump administration’s announced decision to shut down the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which opened in Boulder in 1960 and employs 830 people.
Russ Vought, a chief architect of the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint for a second Trump term and currently director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced Tuesday night that the National Science Foundation would immediately move to shut down NCAR, which he branded in a post on X as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”
Vought added that “a comprehensive review is underway” and that some parts of NCAR’s work, including “any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”
NCAR operates out of the iconic Mesa Laboratory, a facility designed by architect I.M. Pei at 1850 Table Mesa Drive that opened in 1967 and overlooks south Boulder. It also manages a supercomputing center in Cheyenne and two aircraft for atmospheric research.
The Trump administration also announced Tuesday that it would cancel $109 million in transportation grants that had been awarded to Colorado for environment-related projects. Two of the five grants targeted directly affected Fort Collins, including $11.7 million to electrify that city’s fleet of vehicles and expand its charging infrastructure, and $10.7 million to build a transit station and roundabout at West Elizabeth Street and South Overland Trail as part of Transfort’s bus-rapid-transit expansion plan.
Tuesday’s news about NCAR, originally reported by USA Today, drew immediate fire from a business leader in Boulder as well as elected Colorado Democrats who fired off news releases denouncing the move.
“This attitude and proposed action is both a travesty with respect to the understanding of our changing climate and the impact on society, and it will have a terrible long-term economic impact that will resonate for years to come,” Boulder Chamber president and CEO John Tayer told BizWest Wednesday morning. “I’m hopeful that our legislators will take action to reverse the proposed administrative action and help us build back our national strength in climate research and all of the important scientific discoveries that lead to valuable business enterprises.
“We will look forward to the opportunity to support our legislators in that effort,” Tayer said.
“Science is being attacked,” said Gov. Jared Polis. “NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families. If these cuts move forward, we will lose our competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery.”
In a joint statement issued Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper said NCAR and its employees “are leading the nation’s climate science research, delivering life-saving breakthroughs that provide early warnings for natural disasters and deepen our understanding of Earth’s systems. They are a core component of our state’s economy and an integral part of the fabric of Colorado.
“Efforts to dismantle this institution and its essential programs are deeply dangerous and blatantly retaliatory. This reckless directive would have devastating consequences for families in Colorado and communities across the nation. We intend to fight back against attempts to gut this cutting-edge research institution with every tool we have.”
Major cuts the Trump administration made earlier this year to the National Weather Service were blamed for a slow federal response to a storm in July that triggered catastrophic flash floods in the Texas Hill Country. Twenty-seven campers and counselors dead at Camp Mystic, an all-girls camp, after waters swept through cabins located in a flood zone. The White House denied responsibility for the forecasting.
NCAR is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a nonprofit consortium of 129 colleges and universities that conducts research and training in Earth system sciences.
In a statement issued late Tuesday, UCAR president Antonio Busalacchi said in a prepared statement that the organization was aware of the reports that the Trump administration is proposing to break up NCAR, but added that “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 said. “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. … We look forward to working with the administration to continue our focus on safeguarding the safety and prosperity of our nation.”
According to USA Today, the White House pointed to “UCAR’s woke direction,” singling out several initiatives including a Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences and research into wind turbines.
