Trump’s shuttering of the National Center for Atmospheric Research is Stalinist | Michael Mann and Bob Ward

The Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin would no doubt have understood and even appreciated the latest attack by the Trump administration on climate researchers and their work. ‘The administration’s war on climate researchers helps shield oil and gas executives from criticism of the damage their industry is causing.’Photograph: Abaca/Shutterstock The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, is to be dismantled after more than 50 years at the forefront of global research on climate science and monitoring. This is the latest step in the administration’s climate Lysenkoism and its relentless purge of climate researchers who refuse to be co-opted into its quest for American energy dominance though fossil fuels. Stalin’s embrace of the work of Trofim Denisovitch Lysenko, who wrongly believed that wheat could inherit characteristics acquired by previous generations, underpinned policies that failed to prevent crop failures and millions of deaths from famine during the 1930s. Scientists who opposed Lysenkoism were denounced, fired, imprisoned and even executed. While Trump has not gone as far as Stalin, his administration’s persecution of climate researchers could ultimately lead to many millions of deaths from increases in extreme weather and sea level rise in the United States and across the world. Six years ago, we warned in an op-ed for the Guardian of the dangers of climate Lysenkoism during Trump’s first presidential term. Little did we know that there would be a second term and an even more extreme war against scientific reality. The closure of NCAR was announced on X , the Trump administration’s preferred propaganda platform, by Russell Vought , the director of the office of management and budget. He laughably described NCAR as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country”, but it is transparently part of the Trump administration’s promotion of wilful ignorance about climate change. We both have direct experience of the deep expertise and careful methodology of the many generations of scientists who have worked at NCAR, a stark contrast with the blatant mischaracterisation offered by Vought. He is the architect of climate Lysenkoism during Trump’s second term, and Vought laid out his plans to eliminate all governmental knowledge and understanding of climate change in his Project 2025 manifesto during the presidential campaign. Vought was also behind the Trump budget proposal earlier this year that proposed to end funding for most government laboratories and institutions that carry out any work related to climate change. Fortunately, Congress rejected most of the funding cuts in the administration’s budget, but Vought will no doubt try again next year as part of the administration’s promotion of climate Lysenkoism. While it is difficult to understand the workings of Donald Trump’s mind, his administration’s pretence that climate change does not exist is in line with his ambition to make the United States and the rest of the world more dependent on American oil, gas and coal. Trump’s presidential campaign received at least $75m from oil and gas interests, according to media reports , and he promised to repay their investments...

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