So Cute!!! TX GQP Rep "Concerned" Re NOAA Plan For Massive Budget Cuts, Closing Mauna Loa Observatory

A key Republican joined Democrats in pushing back against the Trump administration’s proposal to slash the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research and data collection programs at a House environment subcommittee hearing Tuesday. NOAA requested a 26 percent reduction in its proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, with plans to terminate 35 projects and institutes.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), who chairs the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, expressed concern about a proposed elimination of grants that support extreme weather event warnings. He said he did not believe the budget request meets Trump’s expectation for NOAA’s mission to protect lives and property. “After the catastrophic events in Kerr County, Texas, last July 4, I’m particularly sensitive to efforts to improve flash flood watches, warnings, decisions, support and products that inform timely evacuation,” he said. “I am concerned eliminating these grants would stymie future improvements.” The rising flood waters from the Guadalupe River killed 135 people in Central Texas.

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For example, NOAA currently operates a network of measurement stations across the globe. These stations collect air samples, which are then sent for analysis to the Global Monitoring Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. But the FY2027 budget threatens the future of the whole measurement network, which has already been disrupted by separate funding issues. Earlier this month, a pause in federal grant funding resulted in staff furloughs at the Global Monitoring Laboratory. Funds were released on April 16 and staff subsequently returned to work.

Joe Neguse, the Democratic congressman who represents the Boulder lab’s district, said in a statement that “we must continue to push for reversal of any plans to eliminate funding for these critical institutions or diminish the strength of our national labs, and stand strongly opposed to reckless and short-sighted proposals that undermine American science research.” The proposed budget would eliminate funding for the network of global monitoring laboratories and 14 other climate laboratories across the country. This would include the Mauna Loa observatory, where the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere was observed in 1958.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29042026/noaa-defends-trump-cuts/