NASA climate research lab draws attention as spending slashed By EPN Staff A NASA lab based for decades in New York City has shuttered its physical location in a budget saving move that has raised questions about the future of the agency’s climate research efforts. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), affiliated with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland, abruptly canceled its $3 million annual lease in a building owned by Columbia University – the lease had been set to expire in 2031 – and forced lab staff to exit this spring. Why it matters NASA’s GISS has played an important role in performing research used to inform and shape energy and environmental policy, and the cut coincides with the Trump administration’s broader federal spending reductions, fulfilling a campaign promise the President made in his 2024 election bid. While critics argue these cuts will set the United States back on climate science, supporters of the administration’s efforts have suggested GISS is an example of mission creep and engages in duplicative efforts that qualify as “waste, fraud and abuse” under the guidelines of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The bigger picture The NASA GISS was established in 1961 to support the Goddard space flight program by conducting basic research in space and planetary sciences. By the mid-1980s, the lab began to explore atmospheric modeling and climate dynamics as popular interest in climate change grew. One of the lab’s most well-known contributions is GISTEMP, a land-based surface air temperature dataset developed to test and evaluate climate models used to guide policymaking. Many lab personnel are researchers and educators at area universities, including Columbia, Stony Brook and New York universities, and the lab has continued to publish since vacating its facility. Media and research-related inquiries have been redirected to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Additional details GISS employees are on remote work agreements, awaiting further details. The White House’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 cuts NASA’s science funding by 47% and reduces their workforce by one third.
