Ashley Siefert Nunes
WASHINGTON—It is being reported that the Trump administration is canceling funding for the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the 15 federal agency body established by Congress in 1990 to coordinate federal research on climate change and its impacts. Among several key scientific and coordination functions, USGCRP produces the quadrennial National Climate Assessment (NCA), a congressionally mandated periodic study on the latest climate science and climate change impacts and trends across the United States and its territories. Such a move would be yet another illegal power grab by the administration, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Below is a statement by Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, a senior climate scientist at UCS and a co-author of the Fourth National Climate Assessment.
“The USGCRP’s work, including the National Climate Assessment, is congressionally mandated in statute, and the administration should know it can’t be cancelled by fiat. Federal agencies and hundreds of scientists across the nation help to build this invaluable scientific foundation so decision makers, businesses and the public have the information they need to protect people, vital infrastructure, the economy, food production, ecosystems and more. If the NCA is undermined, the United States risks flying blind in a world made increasingly dangerous by climate change.
“The Trump administration is trying to bury the facts about climate change and the damage it’s wreaking on public health and safety as it runs counter to the corrupt agenda of his fossil fuel industry allies. Meanwhile, people in the United States are reeling from worsening heatwaves, floods, wildfires and storms. But the scientific reality of climate change can’t be ignored, and scientists deserve to be supported in their urgently needed work. We urge Congress to intervene to ensure the NCA is protected and can continue to deliver the vital science that can save lives.”
Below is a statement by Karen Perry Stillerman, the deputy director of the Food and Environment Program at UCS.
“Farmers need the information provided in these reports every four years. Agriculture is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and other climate-driven changes to our environment. This week, farmers in eastern Arkansas and elsewhere are coping with the aftermath of catastrophic flooding just as they should be doing spring planting. Meanwhile, farmers across the country are reeling from the president’s reckless trade wars and protesting the administration’s freezes on financial and technical assistance to help them adapt to climate change already underway. This latest anti-science attack will only make things worse.”
For more information, please see a UCS blog series on the NCA.