Ex-NOAA employees laid off by DOGE rebuilt climate website
Former NOAA employees who were laid off by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have rebuilt a climate website that was previously taken down, restoring public access to climate data and resources.
Background
- DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) is the informal name for the cost-cutting initiative led by Elon Musk under the Trump administration, tasked with slashing federal bureaucracy and personnel.
- NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is the U.S. government agency responsible for climate, weather, and ocean data. It was heavily targeted by DOGE's workforce reductions.
- The article reports that former NOAA employees, laid off as part of those cuts, have independently rebuilt the agency's publicly accessible climate website, which had been taken down or degraded after the layoffs.
- This matters because NOAA's climate data is used worldwide by researchers, policymakers, and industry. The rebuild shows that former civil servants stepped in to preserve public access to climate information after government capacity was gutted.