Alongside regulatory rollbacks like those targeting the Endangered Species Act, the Trump administration’s April 11 budget proposal reveals a broader agenda of gutting environmental science and oversight institutions across the board. Here’s what’s at stake:

• NOAA Gutted: Ocean, Weather & Climate Science on the Chopping Block

The proposal aims to cut funding for NOAA’s National Ocean Service in half, a move that would cripple the U.S. government’s ability to monitor rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and coastal resilience efforts.

• EPA Decimated: Returning to Pre-Crisis Capacity

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would face a 65% staffing reduction, shrinking the agency to its 1980s capacity—before key environmental protections were enacted.

• NASA Climate Science Slashed

NASA’s Earth science division, which plays a critical role in tracking global warming, ice melt, and atmospheric carbon levels, is also in the crosshairs.

These cuts are not just about trimming budgets—they signal a systematic dismantling of the United States’ environmental knowledge base. At a time when the climate crisis demands more data, stronger governance, and faster action, these proposed changes would:

• Disempower communities on the frontlines of climate impacts.
• Weaken the country’s ability to forecast extreme weather or respond to ecological disasters.
• Hand over regulatory space to private industry with little oversight.

When the United States — historically one of the world’s largest emitters and most influential science funders — retreats from environmental protection, it sends a devastating signal to the international community:

• Undermining Global Agreements: Weakening climate research and environmental enforcement erodes trust in U.S. commitments to agreements like the Paris Climate Accord. It suggests the U.S. is unwilling to shoulder its share of responsibility, even as climate impacts accelerate.
• Dismantling Collaborative Science: U.S. agencies like NASA and NOAA are central to global climate monitoring efforts. Their data feeds into IPCC reports, disaster early-warning systems, and international planning. These cuts threaten to break data continuity and weaken scientific diplomacy.
• Empowering Bad Actors: When a global superpower downplays environmental governance, it emboldens other nations — especially major polluters — to roll back their own protections under the guise of "economic growth" or "sovereignty."
• Threatening Biodiversity Beyond Borders: Endangered species don’t respect national boundaries. U.S. decisions about land use, marine protections, and species conservation have cross-border ecological consequences, particularly for migratory species and shared waters.

EarthJustice with a fantastic response to the proposed ruling, 

IFAW and their call for better conservation efforts. 

Wildlife conservation society

 The NGO directory at the US Fish and wildlife service has a list of ngos they work with and what they partner in across the US