The Trump administration is moving to dismantle a world-class weather and climate research institution in Colorado, the latest salvo in President Donald Trump’s war on science.

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced the plan Tuesday night on social media.

“The National Science Foundation will dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado,” Vought wrote. “A comprehensive review is underway and any vital activities, such as weather research, will be moved to another entity or location.”

Vought also accused NCAR of producing “climate scaremongering.” The move comes after nearly a year of the Trump administration rolling back environmental initiatives, and Trump, in a speech at the United Nations, calling climate change “the biggest scam ever perpetrated in the world.”

The state-of-the-art research laboratory in Colorado studies the Earth’s climate, including how to better predict severe weather, develop air quality forecasts, model floods and predict droughts, study and predict the behavior of wildfires, and study how solar storms impact the Earth.

Antonio Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation, said plans had not yet been communicated to the facility.

“We have no additional information about any such plan,” Busalacchi said in a statement.

Dismantling NCAR would greatly harm the United States’ ability to predict and respond to severe weather and natural disasters, he noted.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research's Mesa Laboratory is seen in 2016 in Boulder, Colorado.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Mesa Laboratory is seen in 2016 in Boulder, Colorado.

John Greim via Getty Images

Around 800 scientists and support staff work at the centre, founded in 1960.

“NSF NCAR research is crucial to building American prosperity by protecting lives and property, supporting the economy, and strengthening national security,” he said. “Any plan to dismantle NSF NCAR would harm our nation’s ability to predict, prepare for, and respond to severe weather and other natural disasters.”

On Tuesday, the Trump administration also canceled $109 million in federal transportation grants to Colorado, including a $66 million grant intended to pay for a critical rail safety mechanism in the northern part of the state.

Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), whose district includes NCAR, and Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats, criticized the reports in a joint statement.

“Efforts to dismantle this institution and its essential programs are deeply dangerous and blatantly retaliatory,” they said. “We intend to fight attempts to destroy this cutting-edge research institution with every tool we have.”

The moves coincide with President Donald Trump’s pledge to retaliate against Colorado if Gov. Jared Polis (D) does not pardon and release Tina Peters, a former county clerk serving nine years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to breach voting machine data fueled by false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

The Trump administration attempted to move Peters into federal custody and granted him a sham pardon last week.

On Monday, Trump baselessly accused Polis of being “led by Tren de Aragua,” a Venezuelan gang, and also called him “pathetic” and “weak.”

Polis appears unlikely to respond to the threats and reiterated that Peters should be treated the same as any other inmate.