Neguse, Boulder County submit final comments supporting NCAR as federal review closes

On the final day for public feedback to the National Science Foundation on plans to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, several local leaders joined scientists and advocates in urging the Trump administration to keep the federal lab intact. They warned dismantling NCAR would leave the nation less able to respond to severe weather.

The comments may fall on deaf ears. Rep. Joe Neguse said Trump administration officials were already considering third parties to take over NCAR assets while the comment period remained open. Science also reported on several proposals that appear to be under consideration. Regardless, officials used the last day for public feedback to submit comments to the NSF urging it not to dismantle the lab.

On March 13, Neguse submitted a letter alongside U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Colorado Republican, , Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and 80 other lawmakers, opposing the restructuring and voicing “serious concerns about how structural changes to the organization will affect national weather forecasting capabilities, national security functions, and the long-term return on federal investment.”

“Fragmenting NCAR’s capabilities, including divesting its research aircraft or supercomputing center, would increase contracting, coordination, and oversight costs while weakening operational integration that currently reduces duplication across agencies,” the letter reads, adding that Congress has “consistently appropriated funds for NCAR as an integrated national capability” and that lawmakers have a responsibility to “preserve core capabilities.”

The Boulder County Board of Commissioners also submitted a letter stating that the county “strongly opposes any efforts to dismantle NCAR, privatize any of its programs, or reorganize its functions.”

The commissioners’ letter said NCAR’s research and data greatly assist the county as it faces an increasing number of climate-driven disasters and extreme weather events. 

The county is currently in the midst of a period of extreme weather that has led to several small wildfires in recent weeks, with a planned power shutoff possible this weekend and a record heat wave expected next week. A December power shutoff by Xcel, intended to prevent its equipment from sparking a wildfire, also caused widespread outages across the county, leaving thousands without electricity for days.

“During the days in December when news was breaking about plans to dismantle NCAR, the Boulder area around it was experiencing Colorado’s first ‘particularly dangerous situation’ issued for fire weather with record high temperatures, low humidity, and wind gusts approaching 100 miles per hour,” commissioners wrote, referring to the events preceding the December Xcel power shutoff. 

“Without the collaboration of NCAR, NOAA, and NWS [National Weather Service], we would not have the warning we need to predict, prepare for, and withstand increasingly threatening weather year-round.”

Commissioners added that “closing NCAR would severely impact Boulder County’s economy.” The federal lab employs more than 800 people, many of them in Boulder.

“Eliminating or moving these vital jobs would impact our tax base and our ability to provide the programs and services Boulder County residents rely on,” commissioners wrote.

Michael England, a spokesman for NSF, told the New York Times that the proposals and comments would not be made public and declined to say when the officials would make a final decision about the fate of NCAR. Neguse had said the comments should be made public and that he will push the NSF to do so.