• January 2025: A government-wide hiring freeze begins in the United States, impacting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service (NWS).
• February 2025: Approximately 250 NWS employees are fired or take buyouts as part of staffing cuts.
• Sometime between February and May 2025: An additional 300 NWS employees depart the agency, bringing the total number of recent departures and firings to an estimated 500 out of a staff that numbered over 4,200 before President Trump's second term.
• Early May 2025: Five former NWS chiefs issue an open letter warning that the Trump administration's cuts could lead to "a needless loss of life" and that offices are so thinly staffed some roles will have to be filled on a part-time basis.
• Prior to May 14, 2025: NOAA and NWS internal documents reveal a range of open positions across the country. NOAA managers send emails pleading with employees to pursue reassignments, even if they amount to demotions, to fill these gaps. Notices are sent to employees offering to pay moving expenses for staff willing to transfer to critically understaffed offices.
• May 14, 2025:POLITICO first reports on Wednesday morning that NOAA posted 155 job openings at the NWS.
• House Democrats on the Science, Space and Technology Committee, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Gabe Amo, raise alarms about the staffing shortages at the NWS, warning the U.S. is ill-prepared for disasters ahead of hurricane season.
• At a Capitol Hill event, Rep. Zoe Lofgren states that NOAA managers are "frantically trying to fill the gaps" and there appears to be a "panic level" to undo the damage to the weather service. Tom DiLiberto, a former NOAA official, speaks at the event, expressing concern about readiness for hurricane season and highlighting the shuttering of NOAA's database of billion-dollar disasters.
• The Washington Post reports on the NOAA's scramble to fill forecasting jobs, noting the 155 vacancies and that some offices have stopped operating 24 hours a day due to thin staffing. The article mentions offices in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Wyoming, Michigan, Oregon, and Alaska are affected or expected to be affected by overnight closures.
• The Independent reports on the situation, citing CNN's report of 155 jobs the NWS is trying to fill and The Washington Post's report about offering moving expenses. The article also mentions NOAA is retiring its tool to track billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Dr. Andrew Hazelton, a former Hurricane Hunter who lost his job in the recent layoffs, comments on the situation.
• May 27, 2025 (Deadline): The NWS is seeking to fill the 155 job vacancies by this date.
• June 1, 2025 (Official Start): The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins. Offices in Fairbanks, Alaska, are expected to have overnight closures starting on this date due to vacancies.
• Ongoing in 2025: NOAA staff is expected to fall by 20 percent due to retirements, deferred resignation programs, firings, and a forthcoming reduction-in-force.

The Trump administration is targeting the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Energy Star program for elimination as part of a broader reorganization and deregulatory effort focused on air pollution offices. This move is viewed as a significant step away from the previous administration's focus on climate change and energy efficiency. The Energy Star program, a voluntary labeling initiative for energy-efficient products, has been widely successful in saving consumers money on energy bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its potential demise raises concerns about consumer choice, the ability to identify efficient products, and the future of energy efficiency efforts in the United States.

1. Targeting of the Energy Star Program:

• The core issue is the EPA's plan to eliminate its Energy Star offices as part of a reorganization. This was first reported by CNN and confirmed through agency documents reviewed by the Associated Press.
• The EPA's stated rationale is "delivering organizational improvements to the personnel structure that will directly benefit the American people and better advance the agency's core mission, while Powering the Great American Comeback." (AP/NPR)
• The plan advances President Trump's "sharp turn away from the prior administration's focus on climate change." (AP/NPR)
• Trump's proposed budget specifically asks Congress to eliminate the EPA's entire Atmospheric Protection Program, which houses the Energy Star offices, describing the program as "an overreach of Government authority that imposes unnecessary and radical climate change regulations on businesses and stifles economic growth." (AP/NPR)

1. Success and Popularity of Energy Star:
2. The program is "extraordinarily popular, saves American families about $450 annually and may go away very soon." (The Washington Post)
3. An estimated 90 percent of the public is aware of the Energy Star label. (The New York Times, The Washington Post)
4. Since its start in 1992, the program has reduced energy costs by "more than $500 billion and prevented about 4 billion metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions." (AP/NPR, The Washington Post, Canary Media)
5. For every dollar the federal government spends on the program, consumers save an estimated $350. (Canary Media)
6. Energy Star has enjoyed bipartisan support until recently. (Steven Nadel, ACEEE, AP/NPR)
7. It has motivated manufacturers to improve the efficiency of their appliances, with Energy Star-certified appliances now dominating many market segments (e.g., 96% of dishwashers). (The Washington Post)

1. Impact of Energy Star's Potential Elimination:
2. Losing Energy Star will make it "harder for consumers to have trustworthy information about products' energy use." (Sarah Gleeson, Project Drawdown, AP/NPR)
3. Consumers will "have to pay more and work harder to identify which appliances will use the least energy and save the most money." (The Washington Post)
4. Broader "All-Out War on Energy Efficiency":

• The targeting of Energy Star is part of a wider assault on American energy efficiency efforts. (Canary Media)
• Other programs under threat include the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides financial support to vulnerable households for utility costs and weatherization. The administration has fired staff and proposed eliminating the program. (Canary Media)
• The administration is also targeting efficiency standards for appliances, building codes, and federal buildings, arguing they result in more expensive and less effective products and deny consumer choice. (AP/NPR, Canary Media)

Administration Actions on Climate Science and Data

Date: May 9, 2025

Recent actions by the Trump administration have significantly impacted climate science and data collection efforts in the United States. The administration has dismissed a large number of scientists working on the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment and ended the public database tracking the cost of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. These actions are seen by critics as part of a broader effort to downplay the impacts of climate change and limit public access to relevant data, potentially hindering preparedness and understanding of climate risks.

Key Themes and Important Ideas:

• Dismantling of Climate Assessment Infrastructure: The Trump administration dismissed nearly 400 scientists involved in the preparation of the 6th National Climate Assessment (NCA). This report, produced every four years and mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, is crucial for informing federal, state, local, and private sector responses to climate change. The dismissal of such a large number of experts suggests the next NCA "may not be as extensive as the previous ones."
• Impacting Public Access to Climate Data: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has retired its "billion-dollar weather and climate disasters" database, which has tracked the cost of extreme weather events since 1980. This database was a unique resource, drawing on proprietary and non-public data sources. Its discontinuation makes it "next to impossible for the public to track the cost of extreme weather and climate events" and replicate damage trend analyses, hindering understanding of the increasing financial burden of these events.
• Broader Cuts to Climate-Related Programs and Agencies: The termination of the disaster database and the dismissal of scientists are part of broader staffing reductions and funding cuts within NOAA and other federal agencies involved in climate research. The administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 includes a "24% cut" to NOAA's spending compared to 2025, with plans to potentially "eliminate its research division and clos[e] its weather and climate labs."
• Controversy and Concerns over Motivation: Critics view these actions as a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to undermine climate science and limit public awareness of its impacts. The article notes that the administration "has been laser-focused on killing programs and departments that are associated with 'climate,' whether they are actually tracking global warming and its e`ects or not."
• Efforts to Preserve and Disseminate Scientific Work: In response to the dismissal of scientists from the NCA, two scientific groups, the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society, have announced plans to publish a special collection of climate scientists' work. While not intended to replace the NCA, this collection aims to "ensure the scientists' work can be accessed."

Supporting Quotes:

• On the dismissal of scientists from the NCA: "After the Trump administration dismissed nearly 400 scientists who compile the nation's major quadrennial report on the impacts of climate change in the U.S., two scienti!c groups announced a plan to publish a special collection focused on the subject to ensure the scientists' work can be accessed." (CBS News, "After Trump dismisses hundreds of scientists...")