Budget 2025 - No Cuts to NOAA Research - Preserve Climate and Weather Reporting

Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you, in the strongest possible terms to preserve the budget for The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research and its research agencies. NOAA’s research arm, like NOAA itself, plays a vital role in conducting research essential for understanding and protecting our environment, predicting severe weather events, and ensuring public safety. As a scientific agency, NOAA's research activities are crucial for advancing our knowledge of the Earth's systems and informing policy decisions. In a recent statement, the American Meteorological Society said: “The administration's 2026 budget passback plan, currently under consideration, eliminates NOAA's Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Office and its 10 research laboratories and 16 affiliated Cooperative Institutes, and moves the few remaining research efforts to different NOAA departments. If enacted, the passback would close all of NOAA’s weather, climate, and ocean Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes.”  This Republican budget and political pressures nevertheless ignores all this, and threatens the integrity and effectiveness of NOAA's research programs. It is imperative that we prioritize and safeguard NOAA's research capabilities to maintain the agency's invaluable contributions to science, public welfare, and national security. I urge you to take immediate action to ensure robust and sustained funding for NOAA's research endeavors, shielding it from external influences that could compromise its scientific integrity. The continued strength of NOAA's research is vital for addressing pressing environmental challenges and protecting the well-being of our nation and the planet. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.