On 25 February, AGU joined nearly 500 businesses, organizations, and institutions in a letter to Congress to urge them to oppose cuts to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). See the letter below: 

 

Dear Members of Congress,

The businesses, organizations, and institutions signed below strongly urge you to oppose actions by the Trump administration to dismantle, privatize, or significantly diminish the critical services and functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Established by President Richard Nixon in 1970, NOAA has provided life-saving weather forecasting, scientific research, and emergency preparedness services to the American people for more than 50 years. Whether it’s tracking hurricanes or safeguarding the country’s fisheries, NOAA is vital to the everyday lives and operations of countless communities and businesses that stretch across our nation and the world. 

Alarmingly, statements and actions from the new administration indicate intent to downsize, break apart, or even eliminate NOAA. We remain gravely concerned about continued threats to the agency, including staff layoffs and intimidation, deep budget cuts, research censorship, and other actions that jeopardize its critical mission and services. Reports that unauthorized DOGE staffers have infiltrated agency headquarters and demanded access to confidential information are particularly concerning. 

If not stopped, further action by the administration to interfere with NOAA’s critical services and mission could endanger our economy, health, public safety, and national security. The agency’s work is especially crucial as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, with climate-related natural disasters and extreme weather events costing Americans over $182 billion last year alone. Undermining NOAA’s operations could risk the safety of millions of Americans and destabilize countless industries, from farming and fisheries to energy and finance, threatening job losses and economic downturn. 

To protect our communities, businesses, and life-saving public services, we strongly urge you to reject any further attempts to diminish NOAA’s critical services and the workforce that provides them. Instead, we call on you to champion efforts to strengthen the agency in its mission to provide the best science, service, and stewardship as the agency works to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean and coasts; to share that knowledge and information with others; and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. We are counting on you to reject reckless efforts to diminish this critical agency–for the future of our health, safety, economies, communities, and ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources.

 

 See the full letter with signatories here.