Ashley Siefert Nunes
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is expected to vote today on moving Dr. Neil Jacobs’ nomination forward. If confirmed, he would lead the nation’s foremost atmospheric and oceanic science agency—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). President Trump’s nominee will also need to be approved with a vote by the full Senate.
Dr. Jacobs served as acting NOAA administrator during President Trump’s first term in office and was found to have contributed to politicizing the agency’s scientific work and to have violated its scientific integrity policy during the notorious “Sharpiegate” scandal. He deliberately allowed a false statement to be issued by NOAA, contradicting agency scientists’ forecasts about Hurricane Dorian’s projected trajectory, to provide political cover for a tweet with false information from President Trump.
Below is a statement by Dr. Carlos Martinez, a senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“Climate change is supercharging extreme weather across the United States with each deadly disaster this Danger Season bringing to the fore the imperative for a fully staffed, fully functioning, and fully funded and resourced NOAA. In his nomination hearing, Dr. Jacobs failed to instill confidence that he would stand firm against relentless political pressure by not just upholding but resolutely championing the agency’s lifesaving mission, its expert staff and its rigorous scientific integrity policy. His endorsement of President Trump’s destructive FY26 budget proposal for NOAA and his lukewarm comments on the science of human-caused climate change were particularly problematic.
“Taxpayers have invested in this robust scientific enterprise for decades to help keep people safe during extreme weather disasters and NOAA data is widely used by weather forecasters, city and state planners, emergency responders, farmers, mariners, businesses and more. It’s crucial that this data remains free, accessible, and publicly available to all.
“If reinstated as head of NOAA, UCS will be watching to see if Dr. Jacobs lives up to his responsibility to the American public. In a world made ever more perilous by climate change, this responsibility will be essential to help protect people across the country and the U.S. economy.”
Contact UCS Climate and Energy Media Manager Ashley Siefert Nunes by email at [email protected] or by phone at +1 952-239-0199 to speak with Dr. Martinez or another UCS expert. English- and Spanish-speaking experts are available for interviews.
Additional UCS Resources:
- UCS delivered a letter signed by more than 3,300 scientific experts urging Congress and the Trump administration to protect NOAA.
- NOAA-related blog posts by UCS experts are available here.
- The UCS Danger Season Tracker, which is updated daily.
- Blog posts chronicling the attacks on science during the Trump administration can be found here.
- A report titled “Science and Democracy Under Siege: Documenting Six Months of the Trump Administration’s Destructive Actions.”
- A report titled “Protecting Government Science from Political Interference: A Blueprint for Defending Scientific Integrity and Safeguarding the Public.”