[The Hill] President Trump’s budget proposes closing a network of climate science centers, prompting concerns the administration will hamstring climate change research while booting employees from the federal workforce.Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget would slash funding for the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers, eliminating all $38 million for research to help wildlife and humans "adapt to a changing climate."
Rather than fund all eight regional centers along with the national one, the budget instead calls for just one center, at a cost of $20 million.
The restructuring plans follow similar steps employed by the Trump administration, where agencies with research ties are reshuffled or relocated, often prompting a reduction in staff.
"They have a track record of doing this," said Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities, an environmental watchdog group. "In a normal administration, you wouldn't blow up eight other regional climate centers without going through Congress. I don't know exactly what they’re going to do, but, this being their wishlist, I won't be surprised if they try to put some of it into action without approval from Congress."
The administration previously moved two research wings of the Agriculture Department to Kansas City. One of those agencies, the Economic Research Service, lost nearly 80 percent of its nearly 200-plus person staff and had trouble producing required reports.