Few research agencies could come under more scrutiny in Donald Trump’s next administration than NOAA, which produces some of the most high-profile climate studies for the federal government.
That’s left the agency’s career civil servants on edge as the transition moves forward for the president-elect’s return to the White House, said one former senior-level NOAA official last week.
“I can say they’re very nervous and scared for what’s coming,” said the official, who agreed to speak with POLITICO’s E&E News on the condition their name not be published out of concern for former associates. “There’s real fear that he’s going to try to remove senior people who are either pushing back on him or not following through on his orders.”
But there is no ambiguity around Trump’s rejection of climate science. He could adopt agency-busting proposals some of his allies have developed for NOAA, such as targeting the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, where many of its climate scientists are housed.
