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Hundreds protest at Colorado NOAA office after many employees laid off in cuts to federal workforce

Hundreds protest outside NOAA office in Denver metro area after many employees laid off
Hundreds protest outside NOAA office in Denver metro area after many employees laid off 02:48

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Boulder outside the office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, on Monday after the Trump administration and its newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, laid off hundreds of workers from the agency.

It's not immediately clear how many workers at the Colorado office were laid off. A NOAA spokesperson says the agency doesn't discuss personnel matters.

"Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing internal personnel and management matters," the spokesperson said. "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience."

Lindsey Larvick worked in IT at NOAA's Boulder office until she was laid off last week.

"I was actually sent emails on instructions of what to do for those employees who were going to be terminated," she said. She then learned she was among those who would be terminated. She says the consequences will be felt, even if not immediately. "It's not necessarily an impact that the average person will necessarily see right away, but we will feel it."

Protesters on Monday waved at cars while holding signs, and several people spoke in protest of Mr. Trump, Musk, and DOGE and in support of science and federal employees.

"NOAA's job is to protect us all," said Alexander "Sandy" MacDonald, former director of the Earth System Research Laboratory at NOAA in Boulder. "NOAA are the people who are there at midnight when there's a big storm coming and gonna warn your family. NOAA are the people who tell us when there's a terrible hurricane in the Atlantic coming to an American city. They're the people who warn us a forest fire is going to blow up and hit a city."

He was among other current and former NOAA staffers and officials at Monday's protest.

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Alexander "Sandy" MacDonald, former director of the Earth System Research Laboratory at NOAA in Boulder, speaks at a protest outside NOAA's Boulder office on Monday, March 3, 2025 after hundreds of workers at the agency were laid off. CBS

Protesters held signs that said things like "SAVE NOAA," "AMERICANS LOVE NOAA," "TRUST SCIENCE NOT TRUMP," and "SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS SAVE AMERICAN LIVES."

The sentiment is also shared by former Republican Rep. Claudine Schneider, who represented Rhode Island and served on the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology.

"Science has no political alignment. Science transcends political parties, and that's what the decision-makers should be doing," she said.

The NOAA office in Boulder conducts research on weather on both Earth and in space, atmospheric and ocean data, elevation and GPS location data for the entire country, and more.

NOAA is the umbrella agency for the National Hurricane Center, Storm Prediction Center, and local National Weather Service offices, which issue emergency weather alerts and warnings for events like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and blizzards. It's currently the only entity that can send emergency alerts to any cell phone in a certain area warning about these weather events.

The firings are "going to affect safety of flight, safety of shipping, safety of everyday Americans," Admiral Tim Gallaudet, who served as acting NOAA chief during Mr. Trump's last administration, told The Associated Press on Friday. "Lives are at risk for sure."

NOAA's 301 billion weather forecasts every year reach 96% of American households, according to Gallaudet.

The agency also maintains all weather models, which helps meteorologists provide accurate future weather predictions.

CBS News reported NOAA said critical employees were spared, but a source at the National Weather Service said that laid-off staffers included meteorologists, including radar specialists, as well as staff of the Hurricane Hunters crew, which fly airplanes into storms to help forecasters make accurate predictions during a hurricane.

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Hundreds of protesters gathered in Boulder outside the office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Monday, March 3, 2025 after the Trump administration laid off hundreds of workers from the agency. CBS

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jose Neguse, whose Congressional district includes Boulder, and Colorado's two Democratic Senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, wrote a letter to Department of Commerce Deputy Inspector General Roderick Anderson, urging him to investigate DOGE's efforts to "dismantle" NOAA.

"We're also deeply concerned about recent reports of mass terminations at NOAA facilities in our home state of Colorado. The work our scientists and civil servants do at NOAA is essential to U.S. national security, as well as the personal safety and daily lives of Americans," the joint letter read. "Dismantling NOAA or compromising its capabilities would put Americans across the country at great risk."

"When you think of NOAA and you think of the cuts that are happening, think that they're taking away our protection and the people of NOAA really appreciate all of you people coming out," MacDonald said.

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