University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the nonprofit research consortium that manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Colorado challenging actions taken by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and individual officials that UCAR alleged are intended to dismantle NCAR, which the complaint described as “a cornerstone of the country’s atmospheric and Earth systems research infrastructure.” The complaint alleged that UCAR and NCAR, headquartered in Boulder, were “collateral damage” in “the federal government’s campaign of retribution” against the State of Colorado for refusing to relinquish its sovereign authority over regulating elections and administering and enforcing its criminal code. The complaint alleged retaliatory measures that included divesting UCAR of its stewardship of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC), termination of a cooperative agreement between NOAA and UCAR to fund climate adaptation and mitigation research, saddling UCAR and NCAR with “disparate and undue reporting requirements,” imposition of gag orders on UCAR and NCAR officials, and plotting steps with private entities “to strip UCAR and NCAR of their resources, rights, and responsibilities.” The complaint asserted that the defendants’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution. UCAR alleged that the defendants’ actions posed “a direct threat to America’s national, economic, and public-health security and risks derailing the United States’ global leadership in atmospheric research, weather forecasting, and supercomputing.”

Lawsuit alleging that federal agencies' "dismantling" of the National Center for Atmospheric Research constituted unlawful retaliation.

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research v. National Science Foundation

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Federal Actions to “Dismantle” National Center for Atmospheric Research

Filed

Lawsuit alleging that federal agencies' "dismantling" of the National Center for Atmospheric Research constituted unlawful retaliation. 

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Aligning the skills of the workforce with the requirements of the just transition.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Federal Actions to “Dismantle” National Center for Atmospheric Research

Policy instrument

Risk

Just transition

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance