Trump administration dismisses 400 authors of National Climate Assessment
The scientists and scholars who volunteer to co-author the report had already begun working on the 2028 assessment when the email landed in their inboxes Monday saying they had been 'released' while the report's scope was reevaluated.
It echoes the wording in a bright yellow ribbon that now adorns the assessment's main web page stating that 'the operations and structure of the USGCRP are currently under review.'
The report, published every four to five years since 2000, provides crucial information to policymakers, the U.S. military, emergency responders, farmers, private companies and the federal government. November 2023 was the latest report, the Fifth National Climate Assessment, and it detailed the impacts of extreme weather, wildfires and other climate-related events on everyday life. It also outlined potential solutions.
Trump had already slashed funding earlier this month for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which oversees the report's production. NASA terminated its consulting contract with the company that supports and helps coordinate the 15 agencies that contribute to the assessment, and author training sessions were abruptly canceled, as USA Today reported.
Scientists immediately raised the alarm after Monday's email.
'Today, the Trump administration senselessly took a hatchet to a crucial and comprehensive U.S. climate science report by dismissing its authors without cause or a plan,' said Dr. Rachel Cleetus, a senior policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Climate and Energy Program and one of the dismissed authors, in a statement.
'Not having the NCA is like driving a car with a dirty windshield,' Chris Field, a professor of environmental studies at Stanford University, told The Washington Post. 'Like driving with a dirty windshield, it is hard to detect risks until they unfold as disasters.'
_____
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DHS Secretary says entire southern border wall to be painted black to stop people from climbing it
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire border wall along the southern border with Mexico is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration — and she credited President Trump with the idea. Noem spoke during a visit to a portion of the wall in New Mexico, where she also picked up a roller brush to help out with the painting. She touted the height of the wall as well as the depth as ways to deter people seeking to go over or under the walls. And then Noem said Homeland Security was going to be trying black paint to make the metal hotter. 'That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here when something is painted black it gets even warmer and it will make it even harder for people to climb. So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally,' Noem said. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, who attended the event with Noem, said the paint would also help deter rust. During Trump's first term, building the wall was a central focus of his hardline immigration policy. During his second term, his mass deportation agenda with arrests in the interior of the country has been the main focus, but Homeland Security will be getting about $46 billion to complete the wall as part of new funding passed by Congress this summer. Noem said they have been building about a half mile of barrier every day. 'The border wall will look very different based on the topography and the geography of where it is built,' she said. She said that in addition to barriers like the one she visited Tuesday, the department is also working on 'water-borne infrastructure.' Long sections of the roughly 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico sit along the Rio Grande River in Texas. The Trump administration is pushing forward with completing the wall at the same time that the number of people crossing the border illegally has plummeted. ___
The Hill
10 minutes ago
- The Hill
Rubio to head commission on Ukraine security guarantees
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead a newly formed joint commission that will work on forging a security guarantees proposal for Ukraine, an administration official told The Hill's sister network NewsNation on Tuesday. The commission will be made up of U.S., Ukrainian, European and NATO officials. The agreement for the commission came during Monday's White House meeting between President Trump and the seven European leaders who visited Washington. The news of Rubio as the commission's head was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The outlet reported Monday night that Ukraine's security assurances will be made up of four parts: air defense, a military presence, tracking the cessation of fighting and armaments, citing European officials familiar with the matter. Rubio, who is also Trump's national security advisor, was one of three U.S. officials to participate in a closed-door meeting with the Russian delegation on Friday in Alaska, headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump talked to Putin over the phone on Monday after the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House. Neither Zelensky nor European officials were in the room when the president spoke with the Kremlin leader. 'I didn't do it in front of them — I thought that would be disrespectful to President Putin. I wouldn't do that, because they have not had the warmest relations,' Trump told Fox News's 'Fox & Friends' on Tuesday. The call lasted for around 40 minutes, with the president telling Putin that the administration will set up a meeting between the Kremlin leader and Zelensky, which Russia has so far refused to commit to. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Kremlin is not turning down talks with Ukraine and added that Trump has an invitation to come to Moscow. Trump, who has pressed to help end the Russia-Ukraine war, one that has been raging for about three-and-a-half years, floated on Tuesday providing air support for Kyiv as part of security guarantees. 'We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have,' the president said. The Russian foreign minister warned NATO leaders against summoning NATO forces to Ukraine as part of a peace deal.
11 minutes ago
Trump says Smithsonian museums are too focused on 'how bad slavery was'
Pres. Trump's escalated attacks on the institution comes ahead of a White House review of the museums to ensure it aligns with the Trump's view of American history.
