On Nov. 23, Bob Walker, President-elect Donald Trump’s senior adviser on issues relating to NASA, said the new administration would eliminate all climate change research conducted by NASA as part of a crackdown on “politicized science.”

The $1.1 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, passed by the Republican-dominated 114th Congress, had already taken steps to slash funding for programs relating to the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, such as zero-funding the planet’s oldest carbon dioxide observatories, which track fossil-fuel emissions in the U.S.

While the bill boosted funding for planetary science and exploration to $1.63 billion – an increase of 13.4 percent – it gave the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a mere $462 million for research related to both the atmosphere and the oceans, and only $10 million for ocean acidification research. At a time when the world’s oceans are growing increasingly acidic and warmer, the meager funding seems irresponsible.

In an interview with Guardian reporter Oliver Milman, Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colorado, commented: “Information on planet Earth and its atmosphere and oceans is essential for our way of life. Space research is a luxury.”

Young people throughout the country have united in groups such as Earth Guardians and Our Children’s Trust to compel the federal government to fulfill its role as trustee of the nation’s natural resources. On Nov. 10, a suit brought by 21 plaintiffs under the age of 20 against the government and three fossil-fuel groups was allowed to proceed by U.S. District Court Judge Jane Aiken in Eugene, Oregon.

Rejecting the defendants’ claim that the government has no duty to protect essential natural resources, including air and oceans, Judge Aiken stated: “Federal courts too often have been overly deferential in the arena of environmental law, and the world has suffered for it.”

Jon Swan

Yarmouth

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