Congress May Shift Climate Research Away from NASA

Scientific American ------ Lawmakers are remaking NASA in order to leave parts of the agency's earth science program untouched but remove its climate change research. It's still unclear exactly how lawmakers plan to transform NASA's mission, but Republicans and Trump administration officials have said they want the agency to focus on deep-space missions and away from climate change research, which is part of its Earth Sciences Division. That has created uncertainty about the fate of the Earth Sciences Division, which accounts for about $2 billion of NASA's $20 billion budget. At a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing yesterday, Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said he wants a "rebalancing" of NASA's mission. The lawmaker told E&E News he wants the agency to reprioritize its mission because the Obama administration cut space exploration funds. To learn more about Congress may shift climate research away from NASA click on the picture below to read the article.