By Sarah Salvadore, Patch Staff
PRINCETON, NJ — The Department of Commerce has announced the withdrawal of approximately $4 million in funding from Princeton University’s climate research programs.
According to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, the university’s programs contributed to “climate anxiety,” among students and young people.
The cut to funding was made after a “detailed, careful, and thorough review of the Department’s financial assistance programs against National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (“NOAA”) current program objectives.”
The White House said it considered the University’s research topics like sea level rise, coastal flooding and global warming to be “exaggerated and implausible climate threats.”
Related: Harvard Professors Sue Trump Administration Over Threat to Cut Funding
“Its focus on alarming climate scenarios fosters fear rather than rational, balanced discussion. Additionally, the use of federal funds to support these narratives, including educational initiatives aimed at K-12 students, is misaligned with the administration’s priorities,” the U.S. Department of Commerce said.
Three programs will lose their federal funding effective June 30:
- Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System
- Climate Risks and Interactive Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Predictability
- Advancing Prediction
Among the faculty of the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System I, is noted meteorologist Syukuro Manabe, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work in predicting climate change.
The second program impacted by DOC cuts is Climate Risk which suggests that the Earth will have a significant fluctuation in its water availability as a result of global warming.
The third and final project, Advancing Prediction, assesses risks associated with climate change, including alleged changes to precipitation patterns and sea-level rise.
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