Hundreds Protest Job Cuts at Boulder Climate Research Labs
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the NOAA-NIST campus in Boulder on Monday, March 3, 2025, to voice their outrage over the Trump administration’s decision to cut nearly 1,830 NOAA jobs across the country.
For decades, the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Mesa Laboratory, perched above Boulder, has stood as a symbol of America’s quest to better understand climate and weather. The center, funded by the National Science Foundation, develops powerful computing technologies and radar tools that help improve forecasts and track climate change but now it finds itself directly in the White House’s crosshairs.
The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal calls for slashed funding a dramatic 40% cut for NCAR, which would affect a significant number of its programs and workers. “A reduction of 40 percent would likely have far-ranging impacts on our labs and research programs,” said David Hosansky, NCAR’s spokesperson. “It’s too soon to say exactly which areas will be affected if Congress approves these cuts.”
Other climate facilities in Boulder face a similar fate under the proposal. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates four labs at the David Skaggs Research Center, where federal scientists track greenhouse gasses, fly missions to measure ozone, and develop models to predict wildfire smoke and permafrost effects. The White House plans to cut $608 million from NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research a move that could undermine much of this work.
John Tayer, executive director of the Boulder Chamber, condemned the cuts as harmful to both the community and the country’s future. It would be a terrible mistake for our country to backtrack on its investment in innovation and research. We will be fully engaged in lobbying to make sure the federal labs in Boulder, and across the country, remain supported.
The layoffs previously went into effect, were briefly reversed by a federal court, and then reinstated after a higher court ruling in April. Many workers, like Susan Cobb a communications specialist at NOAA find themselves stranded in employment purgatory. “We have no power, we have no documentation, we have no rights. We’re kind of just fighting the system,” Cobb said.
The cuts reflect policy priorities outlined in Project 2025, a 900-page proposal from the Heritage Foundation. The document advocates dismantling NOAA’s climate research division, arguing it propagates “climate alarmism.”
Scientists like NCAR’s Abdalati push back against this view. It’s hard to believe we wouldn’t want to be able to track and respond to a changing climate. That’s directly what these cuts undermine
Meanwhile, Congress is developing its own budget proposals. Representative Joe Neguse, a Boulder Democrat, called federal labs the “crown jewels” of climate research and described cuts to their funding as “gravely irresponsible.” “We’re going to push back against the Trump administration’s proposal to strip this agency of its funding and undermine its ability to keep our communities safe”
