NASA’s world-renowned research into climate change will be eliminated under a Donald J. Trump administration, with some of the space agency’s climate work being transferred to other parts of the U.S. government, according to Robert Walker, Trump’s senior adviser on NASA. Walker said NASA’s chief function will be space exploration and that there will be no need for it to conduct what he has called “politically correct environmental monitoring.” He added, “Mr. Trump’s decisions will be based upon solid science, not politicized science.” NASA, a global leader in monitoring climate change using satellites and other technologies, has a $2 billion earth sciences budget. Walker, a former Congressman, falsely claimed that only half of the world’s climate scientists believe that human activity is driving climate change. Trump said on Tuesday that he has an “open mind” about climate change and is re-evaluating his pledge to withdraw U.S. support for the Paris climate accords.
Trump Will Scrap NASA Climate Research, Senior Adviser Says
More From E360
-
Cities
‘Sponge City’: How Copenhagen Is Adapting to a Wetter Future
-
INTERVIEW
On Controlling Fire, New Lessons from a Deep Indigenous Past
-
Solutions
Paying the People: Liberia’s Novel Plan to Save Its Forests
-
OPINION
Forest Service Plan Threatens the Heart of an Alaskan Wilderness
-
INTERVIEW
Pakistan’s Solar Revolution Is Bringing Power to the People
-
Food & Agriculture
In Uganda, Deadly Landslides Force an Agricultural Reckoning
-
Energy
Why U.S. Geothermal May Advance, Despite Political Headwinds
-
Food & Agriculture
In War Zones, a Race to Save Key Seeds Needed to Feed the World
-
Climate
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North?
-
RIVERS
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath
-
Solutions
Deconstructing Buildings: The Quest for New Life for Old Wood
-
NATURAL DEFENSES
How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion