But the public shouldn’t be left to wonder whether forecasts are being tweaked because of a potential profit motive. If private companies want to use federally produced weather data to come up with their own forecasts, more power to them. This country has no business playing around with something as important as weather forecasting. Myers’ nomination has been stuck in neutral for nearly two years now, and with good reason. Plus, his former company has long had a beef with NOAA providing the public with free forecasting services that compete with private weather organizations. Myers may have a good mind for business but he’s no scientist. Instead, President Trump - once again treating an important federal agency like a plaything - has nominated the former CEO of AccuWeather, Barry Lee Myers, to head NOAA. NOAA’s functions are many, and include not only forecasting severe weather like hurricanes but also conducting research to help understand how a changing climate is affecting weather.Ĭonsidering four consecutive years of hyper-destructive Category 5 hurricanes - costing lives and many billions in damages each time - spending on research and forecasting should be going up, not down.Īmericans also deserve the best possible leadership at NOAA. And the Trump administration this year proposed cutting NOAA’s budget by nearly $1 billion. The entire budget for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration - which includes the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center - was about $5.5 billion last year. But we choose not to spend very much on weather and climate, considering what’s at stake.
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