1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I’m writing to inform you that the Trump administration is dismantling a $368 million network of 900 deep ocean instruments that collect data in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The dismantling process starts this month! Securing these instruments was a very intricate and costly endeavor. Dismantling them is a horrible waste of resources and information. As climate change threatens to heat our world, one of the things these instruments are used for is to figure out how the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide! At a time when ocean temperatures are rising, causing weather impacts and natural disasters, we need this information. Unfortunately, NOAA is not being led by someone who values science and understands the position of leadership the United States has had in scientific endeavors. This is the most advanced continuously operating ocean observation system in the world. To dismantle it is a failure of vision and understanding. It is part of a larger pattern of undermining science in the United States. It directly harms scientists, the United States and the world. It is a horrifying example of uneducated, uncaring leadership that seeks only to lower expenses in areas that it does not understand and value, while billions of dollars are being spent carelessly in Iran an ill-conceived war that is harming people all over the world. Please stand up for the scientists and science these ocean instruments represent. Please consider all remedies that could be used to stop this dismantling project. We have the means in this country to keep this project going. Thank you for your service.