From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Michael Mann: “It is pure villainy. A crime against the planet – arguably, the most profound of all crimes.”

White House ends funding for key US climate body: ‘No coming back from this’

Nasa cuts contract that convened USGCRP, which released assessments impacting environmental decision-making

Dharna Noor and Gabrielle CanonThu 10 Apr 2025 06.11 AEST

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The next assessment is due by 2027. But now, Nasa has ended its contract with the consulting firm ICF International, which convened the USGCRP and coordinated the federal agencies that contribute to the quadrennial report.

“There’s really no coming back from this, and it means we are all less informed about climate impacts, and won’t have the most up-to-date information on risks and threats,” said one federal staffer who was engaged in USGCRP activities, and who requested anonymity to avoid retribution. “USGCRP helped me to leverage resources from other agencies for use in my own work. But without these networks, I’m left without a support system and the latest science on climate change.”

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“Extreme weather disasters displaced millions of people and caused billions of dollars in damage in 2024 alone,” said Katharine Hayhoe, a Texas Tech University climate scientist who has served as lead author on three national climate assessments. “Given the accelerating pace and scale of climate impacts today, a sustained and more comprehensive national climate assessment process is so essential,” Hayhoe said. “We need it today, to build a better future tomorrow.”

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“It is pure villainy,” said Mann. “A crime against the planet – arguably, the most profound of all crimes.”Read more:

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/09/trump-national-climate-assessment-usgcrf

Obviously Mann describing something as an act of “pure villainy” is quite an endorsement.

I had a flip through the national assessments, and in my opinion they could have saved a bundle of money by asking ChatGPT to paraphrase the previous report and changing the dates.

The Fifth National Climate Assessment

How the United States Is Addressing Climate Change

The effects of human-caused climate change are already far-reaching and worsening across every region of the United States. Rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions can limit future warming and associated increases in many risks. Across the country, efforts to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions have expanded since 2018, and US emissions have fallen since peaking in 2007. However, without deeper cuts in global net greenhouse gas emissions and accelerated adaptation efforts, severe climate risks to the United States will continue to grow.

…Read more: 

https://nca2023.globalchange.gov

Fourth national assessment executive summary;

Highlights of the Findings of the U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report

Recommended Citation

The climate of the United States is strongly connected to the changing global climate. The statements below highlight past, current, and projected climate changes for the United States and the globe.

Global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) over the last 115 years (1901–2016). This period is now the warmest in the history of modern civilization. The last few years have also seen record-breaking, climate-related weather extremes, and the last three years have been the warmest years on record for the globe. These trends are expected to continue over climate timescales.

…Read more: https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/executive-summary/

Was USGCRP spending or causing the expenditure of $4 billion dollars per year to produce that report?

I tried to discover the USGCRP budget. The page I found was a cross budget page. I captured a screenshot of the entire USGCRP page, because the USGCRP website might not be with us for long. Some of the links already no longer work.

I doubt the USGCRP was solely responsible for the full $4 billion in the cross budget. Some of the support expenditure might be activities which would be performed anyway, such as weather monitoring performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But when you add up all the cushy salaries, the flights to climate conferences some members likely accepted, and all the other paraphernalia of a large climate activity group, it seems likely DOGE just saved US taxpayers a whole pile of money. Not to mention all the carbon emissions which will be saved by cancelling those climate conference flights.