Trump administration dismisses scientists working on National Climate Assessment

The Trump administration has dismissed all of the scientists working on the sixth National Climate Assessment — a major congressionally-mandated climate report that details the way the changing climate impacts the U.S.

Scientists who were working on the assessment received an email on Monday saying, “we are now releasing all current assessment participants from their roles.”

“The scope of the [National Climate Assessment] is currently being reevaluated,” the email, shared with The Hill on Tuesday, said. “As plans develop for the assessment, there may be future opportunities to contribute or engage.”

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. A spokesperson for NASA, which supports the assessment, reiterated that the report’s scope was being reevaluated, but did not comment further.

The move comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly downplayed the impacts of climate change and has gone after programs related to the issue.

President Trump, while on the campaign trail, quipped that climate change, which threatens to increase flooding ten-fold over the next 30 years, would create “more oceanfront property.” 

Meanwhile, an internal budget document indicated that the administration hopes to eliminate the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research office, which conducts climate and other research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Rachel Cleetus, one of the scientists who was working on the National Climate Assessment, told The Hill that more than 400 people had been working as volunteers on the national assessment until they received the email on Monday.

She noted that the report, which is mandated by Congress under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, provides a U.S.-specific assessment that can help communities prepare for climate change. 

“The reason this report is so important is because it's particularly tailored to what we as a nation and the United States need, and so it is providing information about climate impacts at a local and regional level, so that it's actionable for people,” the climate expert said.

She added that without the report, communities that don’t have many resources “will need more help to help translate that science into something that's actionable at the local level, and that is a huge lost opportunity.”

 “Lives will be lost. There will be harm caused by removing access to this federally funded, comprehensive scientific report,” said Cleetus, who is also senior policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The dismissal of the scientists, however, was not necessarily a surprise. It comes after the administration canceled contracts that funded work on the assessment and reportedly fired staff that worked on it. 

The moves represent an escalation, even compared to Trump's first term. In 2018, the Trump administration published the Fourth National Climate Assessment, releasing it the day after Thanksgiving.