Magazine: Trump goals to take down ‘global mothership’ of local weather science – To dismantle Nationwide Middle for Atmospheric Analysis – Says it’s focusing on ‘climate alarmism’

https://theweek.com/politics/trump-vought-climate-national-center-atmospheric-research

BY RAFI SCHWARTZ, THE WEEK US – December 18, 2025

For more than half a century, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, has been a premier hub for climate and planetary science. That stands to change, however, as the Trump administration announced plans this week to begin “breaking up” the facility for being “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” said Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on X. News of the center’s dismantling, however, has prompted fierce pushback from advocates who warn that closing the facility would mark a catastrophic milestone for the field of climate science. …

The NCAR is “quite literally our global mothership,” said atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe on X. Losing the center would be akin to “taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.” …

Asked whether Trump’s frustration with Polis was a factor in the NCAR closure, the White House “did not deny the connection,” said CNN. “Maybe if Colorado had a governor who actually wanted to work with President Trump,” a White House official said to the network, “his constituents would be better served.”