As Election Nears, Trump Makes a Final Push Against Climate Science

New York Times logo

The administration is imposing new limits on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that would undercut action against global warming.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has recently removed the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the nation’s premier scientific agency, installed new political staff who have questioned accepted facts about climate change and imposed stricter controls on communications at the agency.

The moves threaten to stifle a major source of objective United States government information about climate change that underpins federal rules on greenhouse gas emissions and offer an indication of the direction the agency will take if President Trump wins re-election.

An early sign of the shift came last month, when Erik Noble, a former White House policy adviser who had just been appointed NOAA’s chief of staff, removed Craig McLean, the agency’s acting chief scientist. Continue reading.

Trump administration tightens restrictions on fetal tissue research

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it will block scientists from using federal funds to conduct research that relies on material collected from elective abortions.

The administration also cancelled a multi-million-dollar contract with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) that uses fetal tissue to test new HIV treatments.

The decision is a major victory for the conservative anti-abortion movement, which has long called on the administration to eliminate funding for fetal tissue research.

View the complete June 5 article by Nathaniel Weixel on The Hill website here.