Senate committee proposes less drastic budget cuts for NOAA
Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives proposed a new budget (HR 1) for the remainder of the fiscal year that would slash funding of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by $454 million. This would mean a draconian 28% cut for the National Weather Service, the agency entrusted to protect us from natural hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Monday, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee released a proposed alternative to HR 1 that would make a $110 million reduction to NOAA operations for the remainder of the fiscal year. Of the $110 million cut, $104 million was from earmarks that are no longer funded. This effectively only cuts the NOAA budget by $6 million, and would allow NOAA to continue its efforts through the coming tornado, flood, and hurricane seasons to help protect lives and property without suffering from crippling budget cuts.
Now is the time to mobilize to ensure adequate funding for NOAA, and the National Weather Service Employees Organization issued these recommendations in a letter posted on their website today:
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Assuming the Senate adopts this proposal, the effort goes to convincing House Leadership of the important work of the NWS and fully funding NOAA. At this important stage, we ask you to contact Congressmen John Boehner and Eric Cantor and respectfully request that they support the Senate's proposal for NOAA's budget. These congressmen hold the key to the future of the NWS.
To email or call Speaker John Boehner
http://www.speaker.gov/Contact/
To email or call Representative Eric Cantor
http://cantor.house.gov/contact/
You can also join the Protect the National Weather Service Facebook group, which was created for this cause. Our fan count is growing rapidly but we need more. We want Congress to take notice of how much support our fans have shown. Please share this message with your friends and ask them to click "like" directly on our page. We will have more information, some cool photos and interesting tidbits to share in the coming days.
Sample letters and talking points are available below. Please feel free to use these letters and also tailor them to the particular types of weather for your geographic area. The links below provide email addresses and phone numbers to help you in this effort.
Your support of the National Weather Service is greatly appreciated. You are making the difference in helping the agency continue their mission of saving lives and property. Thank you.
Dear Mr. Speaker (for Speaker John Boehner) OR
Dear Mr. Cantor (for Rep. Eric Cantor)
I am writing to ask you to support the Senate's proposal for NOAA's budget. This proposal will help NOAA and the National Weather Service continue the mission of saving lives and property.
The Senate's proposal includes responsible funding levels in stark contrast to the draconian cuts included in HR1. HR1 would have resulted in the following impacts on the National Weather Service:
* Reduced staffing at Weather Forecast Offices and River Forecast Centers would result in incomplete forecast production which could prove disastrous in a significant weather event. Even in the best of cases, it will still mean incomplete forecast production at WFOs that have major product workloads for aviation, marine, tropical and public services.
* This is going to have a negative impact on the economy and on almost every aspect of our daily lives. There will be a large scale economic impact on aviation, agriculture, and the cost shipping food and other products.
* Service backup of 24 Weather Forecasting Offices has never been tested and runs a very significant risk of a missed tornado, flood or severe weather warning. It is risking lives at the onset of both tornadoes and hurricane season. This is also doubling the area of responsibility for operations and adds the risk of degraded service delivery.
* The National Hurricane Center is not immune to these cuts as furloughs and staffing cuts will add strain to the program. The Hurricane Hunter Jet, which provides lifesaving data and helps determine a hurricane.s path, could also be eliminated.
* Information that is vital for weather modeling and accurate tornado watches and warnings will be reduced and in some cases lost. Reduced upper air observations currently made twice a day could be reduced to once every other day. Buoy and surface weather observations, the backbone of most of the weather and warning systems, may be temporarily or permanently discontinued.
Recent advances in aviation weather forecasting have resulted in as much as a 50 percent reduction in weather related flight delays. The Senate.s proposal for funding will help progressive programs such as these continue and may, in turn, prove beneficial to strengthening the economy.
For the safety of our citizens, the protection of property, and the large scale economic impact on aviation, agriculture, and commerce, I am asking you to vote in support the Senate.s proposal for NOAA's budget.
Sincerely,
Your Name
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I encourage all of you to make your voices heard and help preserve funding for NOAA and the National Weather Service.
You can call or email your U.S. Senator using this link: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information /senators_cfm.cfm
You can call or email your U.S. House of Representatives member using this link: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
The National Weather Service Employees Organization web site has talking points and sample letters (printable) you can use to contact your Senators and Representative.
Climate Science and EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), will hold a hearing on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Climate Science and EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations.” Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Whitfield have joined Democratic leaders in the U.S. House in authoring the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910), a bill to block EPA’s controversial backdoor climate change agenda that would further drive up the price of energy for American consumers and job creators at a time when gas prices are already spiking and job creation remains weak.
The hearing is open to the public and press. Opening statements, witness testimony, and a live webcast will be available online at http://energycommerce.house.gov
Jeff Masters
is at the Atlantis Casino! Overlooking Reno at 6200 ft.
Reader Comments
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Take a breath. Get a grip. And stop reading the Huffington Post.
OK. I give up. Which one?
My gosh, what could be going through the minds of congressmen, that they think such a a bill is acceptable?
I'm doing what I can to support the NWS!
850 MB: The vort is strengthening, but its really too late
The low level convergence is all over the place... notice the circle of 5 on the far west of the system, this is exactly where the main circulation which represents the lowering of the circulation(pulling it down to the surface.
Everyone Click on this and check out the RGB on the subtropical system; the circulation of the storm has formed, and there is multiple vortexes that are swinging into the T-storm, but it better hurry cuz the front will hit it in 18 to 36 hours.
Link
Although the shear has dropped by 5 to 15 knots
February 2009, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) and
March 4, the Glory spacecraft
Yeah seriously, no wonder more people in the world are becoming more upset with America. U.S. leadership is considering getting us involved in the conflict in Libya by creating a no fly zone in their OWN country!
Seriously, lets keep our military strong, but stay out of others business that aren't making war with us.
The indulgence of our lives has cast a shadow on our world.
Our devotion to our appetites betrayed us all.
An apocalyptic plight.
More destruction will unfold.
Mother Earth will show her darker side and take her toll.
It's just another way to die.
There can be no other reason why.
You know we should have seen it coming.
Consequences we cannot deny will be revealed in time.
Glaciers melt as we pollute the sky.
A sign of devastation coming.
We don’t need another way to die.
Can we repent in time?
The Time bomb is ticking and no one is listening.
Our future is fading.
Is there any hope we’ll survive?
Still, we ravage the world that we love.
And the millions cry out to be saved.
Our endless maniacal appetite.
Left us with another way to die.
It's just another way to die.
Can we repent in time?
Greed and hunger led to our demise.
A path I can’t believe we followed.
Black agenda’s rooted in a lie.
Will we repent in time?
Species fall before our very eyes.
A world that they cannot survive in left them with another way to die.
Are we dead inside?
http://www.speaker.gov/Contact/
To email or call Representative Eric Cantor
http://cantor.house.gov/contact/
Thank you for the links. I contacted both representatives and gave them a big WTG!
Tax dollars are being wasted on the global warming hoax.
Pretty nice, but there's some rain that will come with the next front although we need the rain badly...
Only 5% of Texas is without drought
Winters are cold
That is climate change in a nutshell
please forward this to Sen. Inhofe, R. Oklahoma
Global Climate Change Indicators
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Climatic Data Center
Thank you,
Awesome! Look forward to hearing it!
Please, IF you are going to write your congressmen, Insist on more cuts in spending!
That's the way I see it!
Link
click march if it dosen't show at first
You're also FAR more likely to die in a weather related disaster than a terrorist attack.
Clearly, we need to declare war on weather.
could we insist they don't wear shoes that cost over $100, and make them do their own laundry?
What if they had to cook their own meals, or live on a budget that does not include manicures and massages?
ahhhh..nevermind...
Hurricanes should be declared a no-fly zone.
2011 March 08 01:26:59 UTC
2011 March 08 02:10:41 UTC
DetailsMapsEarthquake Details
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 5.0
Date-Time Tuesday, March 08, 2011 at 02:10:41 UTC
Tuesday, March 08, 2011 at 02:10:41 PM at epicenter
Location 30.349S, 178.038W
Depth 47.5 km (29.5 miles)
Region KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
Distances 123 km (77 miles) S (188) from Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands
1061 km (659 miles) SSW (195) from NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga
3212 km (1996 miles) WSW (238) from PAPEETE, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Location Uncertainty horizontal /- 20 km (12.4 miles); depth /- 0.7 km (0.4 miles)
Parameters NST= 48, Nph= 52, Dmin=122.5 km, Rmss=1.22 sec, Gp= 65,
M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=6
Source U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
Event ID usb0001qmi
Earthquake Details
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 5.0
Date-Time Tuesday, March 08, 2011 at 01:26:59 UTC
Monday, March 07, 2011 at 04:26:59 PM at epicenter
Location 44.246N, 129.391W
Depth 17.8 km (11.1 miles)
Region OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
Distances 419 km (261 miles) WNW (289) from Bandon, OR
420 km (261 miles) WNW (286) from Barview, OR
421 km (262 miles) W (271) from Yachats, OR
501 km (312 miles) W (275) from Eugene, OR
550 km (342 miles) WSW (257) from Portland, OR
Location Uncertainty horizontal /- 20 km (12.4 miles); depth /- 1.4 km (0.9 miles)
Parameters NST=198, Nph=206, Dmin=456.4 km, Rmss=0.88 sec, Gp=173,
M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=A
Source U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
Event ID usb0001qly
Ditto on the good job so far.
Keep it up.
And when the fiscal house is in order we can properly fund NOAA and NASA.
When a Gov does too much?
It does nothing well!
Entitlements? Really? Did you somehow miss the past decade?
Taxes could be raised to pay for all this "demanded" spending. But that would be too much like common sense.
By the way, only the rich get entitlements. Everyone else gets handouts.
Are you recommending everyone gets paternity tests? :D
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