Trump's Plot to Commercialize National Weather Forecasts

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Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree 3h
If you're not sure why people at the National Weather Service are being fired, that's been a GOP goal for some time. This is from Project 2025, which argues the NWS should focus on selling weather data - not free forecasts and weather warnings.

Pay to Receive Tornado Warnings? Trump’s Commercialization Of Weather

For decades, the U.S. government has provided free and publicly available weather data, ensuring that individuals, businesses, and emergency responders have equal access to critical forecasts and storm warnings. Yet, a growing movement in conservative circles backed by Project 2025—a sweeping policy blueprint that the Trump administration appears to be following closely—proposes breaking up National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and commercializing the National Weather Service (NWS), potentially shifting weather forecasting from a public good to a private, pay-to-access service.

NOAA was created in 1970 by Republican President Nixon with the intention of providing “better protection of life and property from natural hazards.” The agency currently comprises the NWS, the National Ocean Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service; National Marine Fisheries Service; and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Despite the Republican established federal precedence of nationalized weather data, conservatives in America have long called for the privatization of weather forecasting. While this may be a potential opportunity for the private sector, it is critical to first understand the current infrastructure for weather data gathering and dissemination.

Beyond daily weather reports, the NWS plays a crucial role in public safety, issuing severe weather warnings for hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods while also advising air traffic controllers and emergency responders. This information is provided free of charge to the American public and businesses alike. Major tech companies, such as Google and Apple, rely on this publicly available data to power their weather products.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/we-dont-have-time/2025/02/20/pay-to-receive-tornado-warnings-trumps-commercialization-of-weather/

Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts
https://apnews.com/article/national-weather-service-layoffs-trump-doge-a65360a1eb2500b7d47c9c966e383f4a


Trump fires hundreds working on weather forecasts, satellite data and radar systems
https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/trump-fires-hundreds-working-on-weather-forecasts-satellite-data-and-radar-systems/ar-AA1zWHeA

Link to tweet

[Haggard Celine]

1. Politicize and commercialize: that's what he does.

[scipan]

2. Have we moved from tragedy to farce yet?

Will my local news stop forecasting the weather?

[Tickle]

7. Look on the bright side

they're typically wrong at least 50% of the time.😁

[PufPuf23]

3. Privatization of public assets is overwhelmingly a one-way street.

Every public good broken pr warped by Trump, Musk, Project 2025 and GOP is far harder or impossible to repair than the simple acts of destruction.

[DSandra]

4. Privatize equals having to pay yet another goddamn bill

Or having another goddamn bill going way up.

[ultralite001]

5. Americans are going to die...

Tornadoes…
Hurricanes…
Floods…
Wildfires…
Blizzards…
Drought…
+ more…

It’s not nice to mess w/ Mother Nature…

[orleans]

6. gentlemen, uncap your sharpies nt

[Rstrstx]

8. Accuweather was angling for this about 20 years ago

If I remember correctly either Santorum or some other Republican from PA was lobbying on their behalf. They had a subscription-based business model they were trying to push.

[GreenWave]

9. Luckily my body aches forecast ok.

Too much pain means extended bad weather.
Feeling stuck like a bug in a rug? High pressure cell overhead.

Here is today's forecast: Dark with gradual lighting trends. Tonight at sunset, rare cosmic alignment as 7 planets align.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. MaddowBlog-Trump administration slashes NOAA staff, fulfilling Project 2025 goal

A Democratic senator said the cuts could be “catastrophic” for the environment and the economy.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-administration-slashes-noaa-staff-fulfilling-project-2025-goal-rcna194223

In last year’s presidential election, voters might not have realized that they were voting for deep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but as The New York Times reported, that’s what Americans are getting anyway.

The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science. The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. The notifications went out on Thursday afternoon.

The Washington Post reported that among the fired employees are those “responsible for producing critical weather forecasts, maintaining radar systems, gathering data from satellites and monitoring key commercial fisheries.”.....

As for why, exactly, this is a priority for the Republican administration, neither the White House nor the Department of Commerce, which oversees NOAA, have publicly shed light on the motivation for the cuts. That said, The Hill reported that the far-right Project 2025 blueprint called for “privatizing and reassigning” nearly all of the agency’s functions.

In fact, the document, published by the Heritage Foundation, specifically referred to NOAA as “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”

In other words, NOAA officials provided the public with accurate information about the climate crisis; the authors of Project 2025 found those truths inconvenient; and now the Trump administration is undermining the agency in a way that’s likely to set it back years.

A Politico report noted last week that the White House’s “promised assault on federal climate policies” is advancing at a speed “that’s surprising even some of his supporters and critics — and could leave an impact on the planet’s future well after his presidency.”

That assault is ongoing.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. rump and Elon Musk fired hundreds of employees who help protect us from the impacts of severe weather.

I live in hurricane country. I had Beryl pass right over my house which was weird (one minute strong winds and then utter calm). We need NOAA

Link to tweet

[valleyrogue]

12. Government is not a business, you dipshit.

You can't run it like one.