Pallone Slams Trump-Musk’s Attempt to Dismantle NOAA as ‘Dangerous and Corrupt, Plain and Simple’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement condemning Trump-aligned operatives’ illegal efforts to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its connection to Project 2025’s broader assault on the economy, public safety, and science:

“The Jersey Shore’s economy and safety depends on honest and dependable weather and tidal information. NOAA supports our fisheries and a marine economy that helps New Jerseyans bring home $6.7 billion in wages annually, leads efforts to prevent marine mammal deaths, and funds coastal resiliency infrastructure that guards us against flooding and sea level rise. Now, with the Project 2025 blueprint in hand, Trump and Musk want to illegally gut the agency, hand off its functions to their tech billionaire buddies who think they can do better, and erase decades of climate science from public policy—all in service of their Big Oil donors. They think we are stupid for listening to the climate scientists and worrying about hurricanes and flash flooding impacts to our homes, schools, and businesses. The United States has the best scientists in the world, including right here at the NOAA fisheries lab on Sandy Hook. Let’s be clear: this is dangerous and corrupt, plain and simple. We will fight this Trump-Musk power grab with everything we’ve got—our safety and economy are not for sale.”

NOAA’s Critical Role in New Jersey:

• Project 2025 explicitly calls for dismantling NOAA, breaking up the National Weather Service, eliminating climate research, and weakening the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
• NOAA’s National Weather Service station in Mount Holly provides 24/7 severe weather alerts and disaster coordination.
• In 2024, NOAA funded over $72 million in projects to significantly reduce flood risks for communities along all NJ coastal counties through the Inflation Reduction Act. This funding and New Jersey’s efforts to reduce flooding are now at risk. 
• New Jersey is home to NOAA facilities that provide critical services, including the James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory in Highlands, the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Princeton’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.
• The New Jersey Coastal Zone Management Program addresses sustainable and resilient coastal community, ocean use, and energy planning and development along the state’s 130 miles of coastline. 
• The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium is an affiliation of colleges, universities, and other groups dedicated to advancing knowledge and stewardship of the Garden State’s marine and coastal environment.
• In 2023, NOAA funded over $82 million in conservation efforts to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. 
• NOAA is advancing the designation of the Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary to conserve and research a critical breeding ground for fish and diverse marine wildlife from energy development.

Click here to read more about NOAA’s impact on New Jersey.