The federal district court for the District of Colorado granted a preliminary injunction preventing the National Science Foundation (NSF) from transferring stewardship of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) away from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The NWSC conducts weather, climate, and atmospheric research used by governmental agencies and private companies to inform their operations and prepare for extreme weather patterns. The court rejected NSF’s challenge to its subject matter jurisdiction. The court found that NSF’s decision to divest UCAR of stewardship of NWSC was final and was determinative of UCAR’s rights and obligations, as required for jurisdiction under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court further rejected NSF’s contention that the case was not ripe for judicial review, concluding that NSF’s decision represented a final agency action that did not depend on uncertain or contingent future events and that withholding review would cause significant hardship to UCAR. In assessing UCAR’s request for a preliminary injunction, the court determined that UCAR was likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that NSF’s decision was arbitrary and capricious because NSF failed to provide an explanation for its decision to divest UCAR of stewardship over NWSC. The record showed no evidence of dissatisfaction with UCAR, and the court noted evidence in the record indicating that the decision might have been motivated by the Trump administration’s dispute with the State of Colorado. Additionally, the NSF failed to follow its own timeline for collecting public feedback before making a decision and ignored the majority of responses disfavoring transfer. The court determined that UCAR would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction, including loss of employees, potential financial impact, and damage to its institutional mission. Finally, the court found that the balance of equities favored an injunction since there was a strong public interest in efficient and uninterrupted data collection and there would be no concrete harm caused by preserving the current stewardship.

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

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Colorado Federal Court Granted Preliminary Injunction Preventing Transfer of Stewardship of National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Climate Supercomputing Center

Filed

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

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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

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.

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 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.

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

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

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

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

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

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

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

Colorado Federal Court Granted Preliminary Injunction Preventing Transfer of Stewardship of National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Climate Supercomputing Center

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance