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Budget Cuts Series: Steep Cuts to Climate Science Agency
The budget guidelines offered by the White House last week include deep cuts to numerous important agencies and programs while proposing to pour the savings into military spending which already equals the next seven countires combined (China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, UK, India, France, Japan).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is slated for an 17% budget reduction. Many citizens best know of the NOAA from tracking hurricanes with their data serving as the backbone of all forecasting. Many of us have visited nhc.noaa.gov repeatedly during times of high alert.
90% of information for weather forecasts comes from satellites under a NOAA program specifically targeted by the budget cuts. The NOAA is responsible for studies such as one that tracks climate change impacts on our coastlines.
The proposed cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would ... eliminate funding for a variety of smaller programs, including external research, coastal management, estuary reserves and “coastal resilience,” which seeks to bolster the ability of coastal areas to withstand major storms and rising seas.
The biggest single cut proposed by the passback document comes from NOAA’s satellite division, known as the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, which includes a key repository of climate and environmental information, the National Centers for Environmental Information. Researchers there were behind a study suggesting that there has been no recent slowdown in the rate of climate change — research that drew the ire of Republicans in Congress.
Several recent NOAA administrators under President Obama and Bush have offered clarity on the mission of the agency and impacts of proposed cuts.
Jane Lubchenco, NOAA administrator under President Barack Obama, said “Cutting NOAA’s satellite budget will compromise NOAA’s mission of keeping Americans safe from extreme weather and providing forecasts that allow businesses and citizens to make smart plans,” she said.
Conrad Lautenbacher, a retired vice admiral who was the NOAA administrator under President George W. Bush, said, “I think the cuts are ill timed given the needs of society, economy and the military.” He added, “It will be very hard for NOAA to manage and maintain the kind of services the country requires” with the proposed cuts.
Rick Spinrad, a former chief scientist for NOAA, said: “NOAA’s research and operations, including satellite data management, support critical safety needs. A reduced investment now would virtually guarantee jeopardizing the safety of the American public.”
Additionally, grant funding for coastal research at major universities would be eliminated.
Another proposed cut would eliminate a $73 million program called Sea Grant, which supports coastal research conducted through 33 university programs across the country....such as the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, the University of Florida and North Carolina State University.
ACTION: Organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Coucil, 350.org, the Sierra Club will be fighting hard against this administration. Read up on their work at their web sites, follow them on Twitter, and give a donation to them or similar groups. We need environmental groups to be well funded to fight this fight. Their web sites have concrete ways you can get involved beyond giving them money if this fighting for this cause drives you.
Additonal Reading: https://psmag.com/proposed-noaa-budget-cuts-would-jeopardize-essential-tools-1bdedfbca32b#.t37s1ft8j