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Many researchers who have ended the grant did not respond to inquiries from MIT Technology Review Or declined to comment amid growing concern that the Trump administration would punish scientists or institutions who criticize their policies.
The coming cut
The end of existing NSF and NIH grants is just the beginning of the administration’s plan to cut federal funding for climate and clean energy research.
White House Budget proposal Next year, it aims to eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars in funding across federal agencies, calling “green new fraud funds” especially at the Department of Energy. NASA’s “Low-Priority Environmental Surveillance Satellite.” “Climate-dominated research, data and grant programs” in the National Maritime and Atmospheric Administration. “Climate; Clean Energy; Awakening social, behavioral and economic sciences at NSF.”
The government was released More details The NSF budget proposal on May 30th called for a 60% reduction in research spending, bringing the Clean Energy Technology Program to near zero. He also proposed cutting funds by 97% US Global Change Research Programgenerates regular assessments of climate risk. 80% Ocean Observatory Initiativea global network of marine sensors that monitor changes in marine conditions. 40% NCARAtmospheric Research Center.
If Congress approves budget cuts close to the level proposed by the administration, scientists fear that they will eliminate the resources needed to continue their long-term climate observations of the oceans, forests and the atmosphere.
The government is also It is reportedly To end leases at dozens of NOAA facilities, including the Global Surveillance Institute in Hiro, Hawaii. The lab supports the work of the nearby Maunaloa Observatory, which has been tracking carbon dioxide levels for decades.
Even the short gaps in these time series studies that scientists around the world rely on will have a lasting impact on researchers’ ability to analyze and understand weather and climate trends.
“If you stop measuring what’s going, you don’t know where you’re heading,” says Jane Long, formerly associate director of energy and environment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “It’s devastating. There’s no two ways around.”
Developmental Science
The growing fear that public research funding will be hit even more severely next year has forced scientists to rethink their research plans.