White House picks science skeptic to head flagship climate research program

A 36-year-old US research program Congress created to help the country respond to climate change will be reinstated and led by a climate contrarian who has questioned mainstream science.

The White House confirmed July 9 that the program will be resurrected but did not comment on its new leader. Matthew Wielicki, a geologist and former assistant professor at the University of Alabama, has updated his X social media profile to say he is the director of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP.)

Wielicki resigned from the University of Alabama in 2023 over the school's diversity, equity and inclusion policies and has criticized what he calls "climate alarmism" that does not allow for divergent views.

"The Trump administration is committed to using the best scientific information to inform public policy," a White House spokesperson said in an email. "For too long, the USGCRP has been used as a vehicle for political agendas instead of sound science. We look forward to restoring the USGCRP and ensuring it fulfills its legal mandate."

The administration halted the program in April 2025 and issued a stop-work order to the contractor leading work on the now-delayed Sixth National Climate Assessment. Consulting firm ICF International had a $33.9 million contract to coordinate the project, which involves scientists across 14 federal agencies and academia. Past reports were also removed from government websites.

Future of national climate report uncertain

It is unclear how or when work on the report will resume. Wielicki did not immediately respond to questions sent through his website.

"It would not be easy to start over where we were, because you need technical support and a real commitment," said Jesse Keenan, an associate professor at the Tulane School of Architecture who was working on a chapter for the report when the research program ground to a halt.

The National Climate Assessment, published every four years, undergoes several layers of rigorous scientific and editorial review, a public review and an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences, Keenan said in an interview.

"Communities, businesses, emergency managers, infrastructure planners and policymakers across the country rely on this comprehensive report to understand climate risks and make informed decisions that help protect people's health, safety, livelihoods and local economies," Carlos Martinez, a senior climate scientist at the Union for Concerned Scientists, said in a statement.

Under the Biden administration, one of the climate assessments was criticized for including occasional language that some scientists felt was policy-driven, but they also said the report as a whole was based on rigorous and evidence-based research.

Martinez said Wielicki was not qualified for the job and could "jeopardize the integrity of one of the nation's most important climate science resources."

Among those congratulating the new USGCRP director on his new appointment was Judith Curry, co-author of a controversial climate report that US Energy Secretary Chris Wright commissioned in spring of 2025. The report was crafted to help support the Trump administration's repeal of the 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding, which underpins all federal climate policy.