Holding the line on climate: NOAA
This post is Part 1 in a series recapping some of the Trump administration and Congress’s interactions on climate, what CCL has done in response, and what we plan to do in the future. Catch up on the series introduction here.
One agency that has been dramatically changed by the Trump administration is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA plays a critical role in climate science, weather forecasting, and extreme weather warnings. The agency’s research is the gold standard for tracking the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans, modeling expected changes from those carbon dioxide levels, and publishing that data publicly for America and the international community. The National Weather Service, a part of NOAA, is the sole public forecasting agency, protecting Americans against the threats of ever-increasing extreme weather events like hurricanes, winter storms, wildfires.
It’s important to note that this agency and its work are authorized and funded by Congress. And yet, the Trump administration first threatened NOAA with deep staffing cuts in February, via Elon Musk and the “Department of Government Efficiency.” Hundreds of workers were fired, rehired, and fired again.
These staffing cuts are being challenged in court, but they have already significantly disrupted the agency’s work. NOAA announced the agency will no longer be updating their database of billion dollar weather and climate disasters, along with other products, “due in large part to staffing reductions,” CNN reported.
In April, Science reported, “President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to end nearly all of the climate research conducted by NOAA, one of the country’s premier climate science agencies, according to an internal budget document. […] The document indicates the White House is ready to ask Congress to eliminate NOAA’s climate research centers and cut hundreds of federal and academic climate scientists who track and study human-driven global warming.”
The administration has already hobbled NOAA’s ability to deliver critical weather and climate information to the public, and the President’s budget looks for even deeper cuts — 27% overall, and a 74% cut to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which handles climate and weather research.
CCL sends thousands of messages in defense of NOAA
Mere weeks after the president’s inauguration, CCL recognized the unique threat against NOAA and mobilized in defense. Beginning Feb. 8, we generated 22,359 messages to members of Congress highlighting the importance of NOAA’s work and emphasizing the need to protect the agency.
Our messages said, in part: “Hindering NOAA’s ability to carry out its core functions not only goes against Congressional authority and intent, but would have catastrophic consequences for the fight against climate change and jeopardize the safety of American communities nationwide.” The messages ended by urging members of Congress: “Please do everything in your power to protect NOAA and ensure its ongoing work.”
Because CCL typically works to advance climate legislation through Congress, our organization has never before taken action related to a federal agency. But funding levels for agencies are up to Congress, and the scientific data coming out of this particular agency is critical to our climate advocacy work. So when those came under threat, we had to speak up. Our volunteers’ messages went (and are still going) to Republicans and Democrats alike, demonstrating that climate science is not and should not be a partisan issue, and encouraging these members of Congress to own the authority they have here.
Shifting the conversation
CCLers speaking up in defense of NOAA hasn’t stopped the challenges facing the agency, but we did see members of Congress on both sides of the aisle take action in the weeks following our outreach.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce calling on him to protect NOAA workers from being fired. Some Democratic members of the Colorado delegation asked the Department of Commerce for an investigation into the firings.
Republican Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04), who serves as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said, “My staff and I are in contact with the Administration to ensure that they understand how valuable and vital the National Weather Center is.” In March, Rep. Cole shared a statement that he successfully worked with the administration to keep a local weather center open, rather than having its lease terminated.
It’s safe to say that CCL’s flood of messages helped members of Congress understand public opinion around this issue, counteracting other narratives or influences, and helped members feel more confident speaking up themselves, thereby making Congress more effective than if they had stayed silent. In this political environment, those are notable outcomes, and valuable ones.
Catch up on the introduction to this blog series, or keep reading:
