WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, along with Representative Joe Neguse, urged Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to preserve funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Cooperative Institutes (CIs) following recent reports that the Trump administration plans to cut funding for NOAA in its upcoming budget proposal.
“Cooperative Institutes are integral to solving some of our biggest problems and making all of us safer and better prepared for short-term and long-term hazards. Any plan to terminate funding for NOAA CIs would be detrimental not just to the people of Colorado, but to people across the entire country,” wrote the lawmakers.
Colorado is the only state in the nation to house two CIs, which are academic and nonprofit research centers that provide invaluable support to NOAA’s mission.
- The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), located at the University of Colorado Boulder, is the oldest and largest CI. It employs nearly 800 researchers, support staff, and students focused on research related to drought, wildfire, and space weather.
- The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), located at Colorado State University, employs nearly 200 individuals who are working to improve weather and fire forecasting.
“We strongly condemn any such plan and believe terminating this funding would be extremely short-sighted and costly to the American people and economy in the long run,” continued the lawmakers.
Read their full letter HERE.