Key facts
- The Trump administration reversed its decision to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative network.
- U.S. lawmakers passed legislation to protect the program.
- The National Science Foundation will halt efforts to remove or disable equipment.
- The NSF will redeploy previously removed instruments.
- An expert panel will be convened to determine the network's future.
The Trump administration will not dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative network after U.S. lawmakers passed legislation to protect its existence. The National Science Foundation stated it "will not proceed" with its plans to remove underwater infrastructure that collects crucial information about oceanic currents and how climate change is affecting them, citing "concerns raised by the range of stakeholders."
Lawmakers from both chambers of Congress had urged the NSF to maintain the $368 million program, which includes over 900 ocean sensors. The U.S. Senate passed legislation to protect the initiative earlier this week. Last May, the NSF had announced plans to dismantle the network and remove its infrastructure, a decision that followed the Trump administration's firing of the NSF's independent board and prompted backlash from scientists.
U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren welcomed the decision but criticized the agency's actions, calling the plan "pathetic" and "illegal." The European Commission recently launched a €92 million program to invest in ocean observation technologies, including a digital twin of the ocean.