Researchers say National Climate Assessment full of flaws, ask Trump to reassess past versions
- June 24, 2025
Kevin Killough, Just the News
A government watchdog and a climate-science educational nonprofit are calling on the Trump administration to fix what they call “flaws” in the influential National Climate Assessment (NCA). These flaws, according to the groups, include a reliance on unrealistic emission projections, contradictions, and false information on heat waves, hurricanes and wildfires.
The assessment is a Congressionally mandated report that the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) delivers to the president at least once every four years. The report is intended to integrate, evaluate and interpret the scientific findings on the impacts of climate change. Critics and researchers have argued the report has been highly politicized and not always consistent with sound science.
In April, President Donald Trump cut funding and staff at the USGCRP, The New York Times reported, as well as other federal programs, which some scientists say will jeopardize the next installment of the assessment. The USGCRP website now has a banner at the top stating that the group’s operations are “currently under review.”
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) and the CO2 Coalition are asking the Trump administration to fix flaws they say are in the previous assessments. In May, Trump signed an executive order, “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” which states that the federal government, since the pandemic, had used or promoted scientific information in a “highly misleading manner.” The order argues that the Biden-Harris administration had politicized science, which it says undermined scientific integrity. In the interest of restoring trust in science, the order directs government research to follow standards of science from the first Trump administration.