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The Trump administration says it is reviewing billions of dollars in federal funding for 14 states for everything from social services to environmental programs. And each one of these states has something in common - they did not vote for President Trump. In Colorado, the administration is doubling down on plans to dismantle the country's largest federal climate research lab. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports from Boulder.
(SOUNDBITE OF WIND GUSTING)
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Just before Christmas, wind gusts of 100 miles an hour led forecasters to issue a rare, extreme wildfire warning in the neighborhoods beneath Boulder's Flatiron rock formations.
(SOUNDBITE OF WIND WHIPPING AROUND MOUNTAINS)
DANIEL SWAIN: There's that air falling off the Rocky Mountains.
SIEGLER: Here, where the Rockies crash into the Great Plains, is one of the best places on the continent to study extreme weather. So climate scientist Daniel Swain says it felt surreal when, just hours after that warning, the White House announced in a tweet it was planning to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR.
SWAIN: I think it was an irony that was not lost on the hundreds of atmospheric scientists who live in these neighborhoods here, near NCAR in Boulder.
SIEGLER: Swain's standing on a hiking trail beneath its sprawling campus. He's with the University of California and does research with NCAR, but he's not employed there, so he feels freer to speak out. He says the ironies that day kept coming.
SWAIN: And in fact, the electrical utility Xcel had shut off the electricity to NCAR preemptively to reduce the risk of a wildfire ignition.
SIEGLER: It's NCAR's research that informs power companies to shut down the lines during extreme weather. The memory here is fresh of a wind-driven wildfire in the winter of 2021 that destroyed a thousand homes.
SWAIN: The weather and climate science that's been done at NCAR has saved countless lives.
SIEGLER: The Trump administration says the center's forecasting arm will be folded into other federal agencies, but they're putting an end to its climate change research. In response to a request for comment, the White House called the center a, quote, "premier research stronghold for left-wing climate lunacy." Here's Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaking at the National Renewable Energy Lab nearby, which has been rebranded the National Lab of the Rockies.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHRIS WRIGHT: It's a real physical phenomenon. It's worth understanding a little bit. But to call it a crisis and point to disasters and say that that's climate change - that's to say, I'm not going to do my homework.
SIEGLER: The targeting of NCAR comes as the administration is also trying to force a coal plant here to stay open against the wishes of its owners. Trump is moving to block Colorado's wolf reintroduction, and the administration cut off federal aid funds used for child care. Democrats say the president is on a vengeance campaign against states that didn't vote for him, and it's often personal. Here he is in December, pressuring Governor Jared Polis to commute the sentence of a former county clerk and election denier that Trump tried to pardon.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The governor of Colorado is a weak and pathetic man who was run by Tren de Aragua. The criminals from Venezuela took over sections of Colorado.
SIEGLER: Local police have denied any truth to the story, but Colorado leaders are more worried about an economic fallout from federal research being cut. Renewable energy is big business here. The industry says it's seeing a bump in demand for solar and batteries, partly due to the recent power shut-offs to avoid starting wildfires during high winds. Retribution campaign or not, retired federal scientists like Chuck Kutscher say Trump's attempt to turn back the clock toward fossil fuels will have ramifications far beyond Colorado.
CHUCK KUTSCHER: Yeah. The energy transition will continue. The concern that I have is we're falling further and further behind China.
SIEGLER: Kutscher worked for 40 years at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden.
KUTSCHER: The very first climate science conference held in the world was in Boulder in 1965, and it was there because of NCAR.
SIEGLER: Boulder today feels on edge. Hundreds of federal jobs are in limbo at labs like NCAR, NOAA and the federal partnerships with the University of Colorado. Mayor Aaron Brockett says the political battle over NCAR started as Boulder was preparing for a possible wildfire during this, one of the driest winters on record.
AARON BROCKETT: The timing was terrible because we actually were preparing for the high wind event at the moment that that information dropped. So the whole city is preparing from a public safety perspective to protect our residents, and meanwhile, we're having to scramble to think about - what does this mean for NCAR?
SIEGLER: It was cruel, Mayor Brockett says. The federal government was dismantling the very institution that helps protect cities like his from extreme weather.
Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Boulder, Colorado. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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