1. United States
2. Letter

Your administration’s quiet shutdown of NOAA’s Atlas 15 Volume 2 project was reckless and dangerous. This critical, nearly finished tool was designed to help communities prepare for increasingly extreme rainfall and flooding due to climate change. Instead of letting it reach completion, your Commerce Department—under Secretary Howard Lutnick—shelved it indefinitely. That decision wasn’t about cost. Atlas 15 was a low-budget, high-impact public resource that would have given engineers, planners, and local governments the forward-looking data they need to protect lives and infrastructure. But you chose to bury it—just like so many other efforts to dismantle climate science during your time in office. The floods that swept through Texas over July 4th proved just how urgently we need this kind of data. Record-breaking storms are happening more often, yet our communities are stuck relying on outdated rainfall figures from decades ago. What used to be considered “100-year” events now hit every 25 years—or less. Still, our roads, bridges, and stormwater systems are being built for a climate that no longer exists. NOAA’s data is the gold standard—used in FEMA maps, zoning laws, and building codes. Gutting this tool doesn’t just create confusion. It leaves millions of Americans more vulnerable. That’s not leadership. That’s negligence. If you actually care about American infrastructure or public safety, Atlas 15 should never have been canceled. You didn’t just stop a project—you sabotaged preparedness in the face of a worsening climate crisis.