Trump moves to shut down Colorado climate research lab

Lauren Penington, The Denver Post on Dec 17, 2025

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DENVER — The Trump administration plans to shut down and dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, a global leader in climate and Earth systems research — a move that drew sharp rebuke from elected officials in Colorado.

“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement on social media Tuesday evening. “A comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”

Vought said the National Science Foundation “will be breaking up” NCAR. The Boulder lab is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research on behalf of the NSF.

The foundation previously announced plans to cut NCAR’s budget by 40%, which would have resulted in “large-scale cuts” to the lab in Boulder.

Federal efforts to dissolve NCAR will begin immediately, White House officials told USA Today, which first reported the administration’s decision Tuesday. The plan, the newspaper reported, includes full closure of the center’s iconic I.M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory, which opened in 1967 and overlooks south Boulder.

White House officials pointed to “UCAR’s woke direction” and called several of its initiatives wasteful and frivolous, according to USA Today.

The programs cited by the Trump administration include a Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences, a water-focused art series that uses recycled materials and wind turbine research.

But Colorado has yet to receive information about President Donald Trump’s intent to pull funding for the lab, Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement.

“If true, public safety is at risk and science is being attacked,” Polis stated. “Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science. 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 the cuts move forward, Colorado will lose its competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the research realm, Polis said.

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat who represents the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Boulder, called the move to close the lab “a deeply dangerous — and blatantly retaliatory action against Colorado — by the Trump administration.”

“The National Center for Atmospheric Research and its 830 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,” Neguse and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper said in a joint statement.

“This reckless directive would have devastating consequences for families in Colorado and communities across the nation,” the joint statement continued. “We intend to fight back against attempts to gut this cutting-edge research institution with every tool we have.”

NCAR’s more than 800 employees are part of UCAR, a nonprofit consortium of more than 130 colleges and universities focused on research and training in Earth system sciences. It’s unclear how many of those jobs would disappear and how many would be relocated.

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