Climate Security Questions Ahead of US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick Budget Hearings

The Center for Climate and Security (CCS) urges US lawmakers to challenge Secretary of Commerce Lutnick on proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to NOAA. The briefing highlights risks to weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and public safety, noting that funding lapses have already disabled four regional climate centers and that 27,000 years of staff experience have been lost. CCS specifically questions the decommissioning of 14 data services, the status of the Atlas 15 precipitation project, and the lack of funding for extreme heat monitoring, arguing that these cuts undermine the $7 billion private weather services market and US national security.

• The Administration has implemented significant budget cuts to NOAA, resulting in the loss of 27,000 years of professional experience due to staff leaving or retiring.
• Funding lapses have already caused four regional climate centers, which provide weather analysis and data for 21 US states, to stop operating, with the remaining two centers facing similar lapses in June.
• Fourteen NOAA data services covering coastal, marine, and earthquake science are scheduled for decommissioning, a rate more than double that of 2024; this includes the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset.
• The National Weather Service (NWS) provides the free data foundation for a private weather services market valued at $7 billion.
• Heat-related deaths in the US more than doubled between 1999 and 2023, rising from approximately 1,100 to over 2,300.

APA

The Council on Strategic Risks (2025). Climate Security Questions Ahead of US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick Budget Hearings. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/04/climate-security-questions-ahead-of-us-secretary-of-commerce-lutnick-budget-hearings/

Chicago

The Council on Strategic Risks. Climate Security Questions Ahead of US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick Budget Hearings. 2025. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/04/climate-security-questions-ahead-of-us-secretary-of-commerce-lutnick-budget-hearings/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=The Council on Strategic Risks |title=Climate Security Questions Ahead of US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick Budget Hearings |date=4 June 2025 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/04/climate-security-questions-ahead-of-us-secretary-of-commerce-lutnick-budget-hearings/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thecouncilonstrategicrisks2025climate, author = {{The Council on Strategic Risks}}, title = {{Climate Security Questions Ahead of US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick Budget Hearings}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/04/climate-security-questions-ahead-of-us-secretary-of-commerce-lutnick-budget-hearings/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }