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Epistemic capture

The Dismantling of NOAA: Privatizing the Weather

Active dismantling
Case Dossier ECO-PRI-001
STATUS
Active dismantling
SEVERITY
Critical
DATE
2025-04-11
DOMAIN
Epistemic Capture
SUBDOMAIN
Privatization
CAPTURE VECTOR
Enclosure of the commons
TAGS
noaa weather privatization project-2025 climate-science neil-jacobs epistemic-sabotage
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The Trump administration executes a systematic demolition of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Through mass firings of 20% of the workforce and a budget proposal to abolish its primary research arm, the administration operationalizes the Project 2025 goal of dismantling the 'climate change alarm industry' and commercializing weather data.

Summary

In the spring of 2025, the administration launched a “shock and awe” campaign against NOAA.

  • The Purge: Between late February and March, nearly 20% of the workforce (approx. 2,600 employees) was eliminated through a combination of firing probationary staff, “deferred resignations,” and contract cancellations.
  • The Demolition: By April, the White House proposed abolishing the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)—NOAA’s scientific engine—cutting its budget from $485 million to $170 million.
  • The Disruption: The chaos forced the suspension of weather balloon launches, frozen credit cards for field research, and the potential sale of agency buildings.

Capture Mechanism: Demolition to Justify Privatization

This case follows the Project 2025 blueprint explicitly.

  1. Epistemic Sabotage: By destroying the OAR and firing scientists, the regime eliminates the government’s capacity to produce independent climate data, which the blueprint labels the “climate change alarm industry.”
  2. Enclosure of the Commons: As Rep. Jared Huffman noted, dismantling the public capacity to forecast weather forces reliance on the private sector. This sets the stage for “forcing Americans to pay for things like weather data and lifesaving weather alerts,” transferring a public good (weather safety) into a private commodity.

Key Actors

  • Neil Jacobs: The former acting head of NOAA involved in the “Sharpiegate” scandal was nominated to lead the agency again, signaling a return to political interference in meteorology.
  • Howard Lutnick: The new Commerce Secretary, whose arrival triggered the immediate wave of firings.

Analysis

The destruction of NOAA is a dual-use strike. Ideologically, it blinds the public to the reality of climate change by destroying the sensors and scientists who measure it. Economically, it creates a market vacuum for private entities to monetize data that was previously free. It is the ultimate expression of the “Extractive State”: selling the weather itself.