John M. | Red Phoenix correspondent | Colorado–

In Boulder, Colorado, on Dec. 20, 2025, a coalition of working people, scientists, and local officials rallied against the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). This move, announced by Russel Vought, Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, frames NCAR as a promoter of “climate alarmism” and subjects it to a review that could lead to its breakup. NCAR’s work includes advanced modeling of severe weather, air pollution, ocean currents, and global warming, providing essential data for disaster response and long-term environmental planning which saves lives. The decision aligns with broader efforts outlined in Project 2025, a blueprint from conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, to undermine federal institutions that challenge fossil fuel profits.

The announcement sparked immediate backlash, culminating in a rally on December 20, 2025, where hundreds of protesters gathered near Boulder’s David Skaggs Research Center amid light snow and recent high winds that had caused widespread power outages. Participants, including local residents, scientists, and students, highlighted NCAR’s role in everyday safety and scientific advancement. One protester, Alden Perkins, pointed out the irony of using NCAR’s wind speed data during the recent storms, warning that its loss would leave communities vulnerable. Former NCAR employee Steven Oncley described the potential dismantling as a “huge loss to the nation and world,” emphasizing its contributions to fire weather and pollution research. Colorado Democratic officials, including Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, have vowed to block a government spending bill until NCAR’s funding is secured, framing the plan as having “lasting, devastating impacts” nationwide. Representative Joe Neguse called it “dangerous and reckless,” planning bipartisan pushback and legal challenges. Even Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has signaled intent to contest the efforts legally.

Democratic lawmakers have suggested the move may be retaliatory, tied to Colorado’s handling of Tina Peters, a former Mesa County clerk convicted of election tampering and serving a nine-year sentence despite a presidential pardon. This context highlights how personal and political vendettas can sabotage policy, further exposing the irrational power of the executive branch under capitalist governance.

This assault on NCAR demonstrates how the capitalist system prioritizes short-term profits for a small elite over the collective needs of working people. They are ready to destroy humanity just to make a buck. Climate change, driven by unchecked industrial exploitation and fossil fuel dependency, disproportionately harms the global working class through intensified disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and floods—events that NCAR’s research helps mitigate. By dismantling such institutions, the ruling class—backed by oil and gas magnates—seeks to suppress evidence of capitalism’s environmental contradictions, ensuring continued extraction and accumulation at the expense of human survival and the survival of a majority of the species on Earth. As climate scientist Michael Mann noted, NCAR is the “crown jewel of climate science,” and its destruction would erase critical data and models, forcing U.S. scientists abroad and weakening global efforts against warming. This isn’t mere policy disagreement; it’s a deliberate effort to destroy knowledge, akin to historical suppressions of truth that serve elite interests, leaving ordinary people more exposed to crises while the ruling class benefit.

The plan fits into a pattern of attacks on federal science, including recent layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder and withheld climate funding for the state. Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett highlighted the economic fallout, noting losses in high-quality jobs that support the local community. Ultimately, scientific progress that threatens profit margins is targeted, while the working class weather the storms of inaction on climate threats; Make no mistake, many working class people will lose their lives without this vital climate research.

Yet the Boulder protest highlights rising resistance. True liberation demands independent working-class movements that fuse climate defense with anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist fights. Imperialism fuels global warming through resource wars and by dumping the heaviest emissions burden on the Global South—making international solidarity non-negotiable. The Genocide in Gaza for example, besides the immense human cost, has created more emissions than some entire countries.

As the NCAR review unfolds, this is a call to ramp up organizing. By exposing these cuts as class warfare, we can rally for a world where science serves people, not profits—and collective action stops ecological collapse. Boulder’s struggle is a microcosm of the global class war. It demands unified international resistance against the exploiters.

Categories: Environment, U.S. News