USGCRP’s Fresh Head Brings Fresh Air To US Climate Science

Climate science in the federal government is about to get a whole lot more honest.

David R. Legates | July 22, 2026

The United States Global Change Research Program, or the USGCRP, was disbanded early last year.  Created by an act of Congress in 1990, the goal of the USGCRP was to coordinate federal research and investments across fifteen federal member agencies to present a whole-of-government face to the federal government’s position on global environmental change.  Now it has returned, but with a new and improved mission and leadership.

I served as Director of the USGCRP back in the latter days of the first Trump Administration; it was a trying time for me, to say the least.  When the second Trump Administration began to take shape, I was asked if I wanted to participate.  I firmly replied, “No thanks.”

What was the USGCRP?  The USGCRP ran the website climatechange.gov and provided funding opportunities to various groups and individuals through its massive budget, which was $5.14 billion dollars in 2023.  It also produced both the annual climate assessment to Congress and the semi-decadal National Climate Assessment.

But the only employees of the USGCRP from the federal government were its Executive Director and the Director of the National Climate Assessment.  The remainder of USGCRP personnel were staffed by a company called ICF International Incorporated.  ICF International has contracts throughout the federal government, most notably at the EPA, but it is a publicly traded consulting and technology services company located in Reston, Virginia.  Many expressed concern about ICF........

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