Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project
Critics say losing 900 instruments and Ocean Station Papa would weaken fisheries, storm forecasting and emergency planning in Alaska.
- On Monday, a bipartisan group of senators and two Democratic House committees demanded the National Science Foundation reverse plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of over 900 sensors, accusing the agency of acting illegally.
- The National Science Foundation described the move as "descoping" to prioritize emerging technologies, yet scientists and lawmakers claim the agency provided no warning or scientific review before directing the removal of instruments by 2027.
- Federal law requires the agency to notify Congress 30 days before decommissioning assets worth over $2.5 million, but the House letter states no notification was transmitted, calling the $386 million project's destruction "pathetic" and wasteful.
- Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska plan to file legislation Tuesday prohibiting the NSF from using federal funds to decommission instruments until a thorough review is complete.
- Losing access to data from Ocean Station Papa threatens coastal safety and fisheries management, as the network has informed over 500 scientific publications while tracking climate change for a decade.
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24 Articles
dailyclimate.org
ecotopical.comLawmakers push to stop Trump dismantling of ocean observatory project
Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under the Trump administration.
NW lawmakers fight to stop Trump from dismantling $386M ocean project
Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under President Donald Trump's administration.
Associated Press News
Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration's dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project
Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under President Donald Trump's administration.
Alaska fishing industry reels as key ocean monitoring network goes dark during salmon, crab crashes
Coastal communities in Alaska are already contending with salmon crashes, shrinking snow crab stocks, and powerful storms, and the state's fishing industry now has a new source of uncertainty. That concern stems from a federal plan to end a major network that monitors conditions in the deep ocean. What happened? According to Inside Climate News, the National Science Foundation plans to retire the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a nearly $368 mil…
A group of Democratic senators and a Republican, as well as two Democratic committees of the House of Representatives, sent letters to the National Science Foundation on Monday to ask it to reverse its plan to dismantle an extensive ocean monitoring network; House legislators went further and accused the agency of acting illegally.
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