6 ms·

Hundreds in US climate agency fired in latest cuts

42 points by tartoran 2y ago

jorblumesea 2y ago
move fast and break things, except now it's storm warnings, weather prediction and climate forecasting. What could go wrong? In a country of ~340M and a budget of trillions, what does this really save? Having a few hundred scientists on staff seems worth it. Pretty obvious DOGE is just a propaganda campaign and won't accomplish any of its listed goals. It's just hurting the American people.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  They could save a lot more if they started firing all people who wear glasses.
- techorange 2y ago
  Areas with dense populations will be financially incentivized to generate their own storm warnings, and we'll save money on sparsely populated areas, so probably rather than spending money equally on tornadoes and hurricanes, we'll see more money spent on hurricanes and less money spent on tornadoes.
  - jmclnx 2y ago
    So you are saying, all states need to fund weather research themselves. That way there will be hundreds of vehicles following tornadoes and many planes studying hurricanes. Also each State will need to fund and launch weather satellites ? Nothing like saving money, I guess you can buy and launch satellites cheaper by the dozen ?
    - techorange 2y ago
      Right, but what you are forgetting is, that in exchange for all the efficiency provided by a central government agency, millionaires with only 2 yachts will be able to leverage this private contract into enough money to buy a third yacht.
    - dylan604 2y ago
      When the co-president is the CEO of a company that launches satellites, this sounds like a winning solution
  - sundaeofshock 2y ago
    Sparsely populated areas? You mean the areas where we grow all our food? Yeah, we don’t need solid weather reports for areas like that.
- Freedom2 2y ago
  Well I don't know. Despite all this chaos, the economy is doing better than ever (?), we have the best jobs (?) the best salaries (?), very beautiful salaries. Who knew that a Republican administration would be bad for most people, no one could have predicted it.
  - sundaeofshock 2y ago
    We are one month into the Trump admin. I expect the economy will not do so well after the tariffs hit next week and several hundred thousand government employees are laid off. Oh, and I expect we might see further problems when people aren’t getting social security checks.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
croes 2y ago
> The cuts come as Elon Musk, as the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) Musk isn’t the head, Amy Gleason is. Musk does not work for DOGE, nor are there any conflicts of interest between Musk's company and DOGE's activities.
- krapp 2y ago
  Oh sweet summer child.
- dylan604 2y ago
  I think you forgot to add /s??? Otherwise, you might want to stop drinking so much kool-aid.
  - croes 2y ago
    I thought my last sentence made it obvious. Think I overestimated HN
    - dylan604 2y ago
      I think you underestimate the number of people that actually believe what you wrote
      - croes 2y ago
        Given the downvotes I think you’re right.
        dylan604 2y ago
        I especially like the response from Mrs Gleason upon learning she was in charge of DOGE. "Wait, I thought you told her!" was said by pretty much everyone involved
    - sundaeofshock 2y ago
      Poe’s Law is hitting hard right now. There are people out there making the arguments you are satirizing. These are rough times…
foxglacier 2y ago
What I don't understand about people complaining about governments removing programs and reducing their staff is that implies either the status quo is just right or it's already not enough. Should they have hired 900 new workers too or just left it alone? Where were the complaints about previous governments not growing them fast enough? Will they accept any correction from an overshoot in finding the right amount? Apparently NOAA grew rapidly in the previous few years [1], so was it underfunded by Obama? [1] https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12406/3 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12406/3
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  Sudden unconsidered change in any direction is virtually always harmful.
  - the_snooze 2y ago
    Given the need to walk back some firings [1], it's reasonable to infer that the ongoing cuts aren't being done in a particuarly thoughtful manner. [1] https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5302019/bird-flu-usda-firings-reversed https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5302019/bird-flu-usda-f...
- geraneum 2y ago
  > that implies either the status quo is just right or it's already not enough Or it implies headcount is not the only variable you can tune to increase efficiency.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  See Chesterton's Fence. I'd be surprised if it was not increasing, BTW, given the increasingly volatile climate we find ourselves in.
  - foxglacier 2y ago
    Musk has said that if you remove something that turns out to be important, you can always put it back. I think this is how they're operating. Like a giant scream-test. Some staff and agencies will return but only when the problems of their absence have become clear. This is one way to improve efficiency which may be very effective at the cost of some disasters here and there.
JKCalhoun 2y ago
> Huffman lamented the loss of "hundreds of scientists and experts at NOAA" who helped collect data that kept the public informed about dangerous weather events. Perhaps I should learn to stop worrying and love this anti-science (anti-intellectual?) zeitgeist we find ourselves in. (Bummer, seems divinginrods.com is taken, redirects to britishdowsers.org Gotta move fast, I guess.)
jmclnx 2y ago
> "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission," the NOAA spokesman added. "except for anything related to Climate Change, there is no such thing as Climate Change per our all powerful co-dictators. Also, we hope to be closed down so we can be privatized, this way if you want forecasts you need to pay 20 USD per week to obtain them." I think the spokesman left something out, so I added it here above. Best to know all the facts since Musk/Trump likes to skip or lie about the important stuff.
- from-nibly 2y ago
  I have to pay for these regardless with my taxes. Except with privitization I have a choice.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    Until they decide to subsidize AccuWeather as party the buddy system as the create a new swamp of their making by draining the existing swamp Getting life saving weather reports should not require a paid subscription. I know I'll get laughed out of the room, but medical care should not be either.
    - from-nibly 2y ago
      But it does. You can't avoid it costing money. Either you are taxed and the money gets laundered to pay for it. Or you pay for it directly. Either way you are paying for it.
inverted_flag 2y ago
> "I was fired from my dream of working at NOAA. I'm so sorry to everyone also affected," climate scientist Zack Labe wrote on X. He said that he had worked on strengthening the agency's machine learning and AI tools. https://xcancel.com/ZLabe/status/1895244032923836498#m https://xcancel.com/ZLabe/status/1895244032923836498#m Note the replies https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3ljapdyp7os2u https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3ljapdyp7os2u
- sebazzz 2y ago
  What a negative conspirasist (if that is even a word) platform X has become. Really something to be proud on. Every sound you make on that platform, a truckload of sh*t you get dumped on you - especially if you have something like “scientist” or government employee in your profile.
  - sundaeofshock 2y ago
    I agree it’s a horrible experience, so I left. I see no reason to add to user and engagement counts that might help with their ad sales.
- dqv 2y ago
  https://twitter.com/DanDavi28347755/status/1895538708578992352 https://twitter.com/DanDavi28347755/status/18955387085789923... https://twitter.com/CharlieFis32041/status/1895539692957057139 https://twitter.com/CharlieFis32041/status/18955396929570571... https://twitter.com/mymuddywaters/status/1895531154675286370 https://twitter.com/mymuddywaters/status/1895531154675286370 https://twitter.com/212chirp/status/1895355118859755763 https://twitter.com/212chirp/status/1895355118859755763 https://twitter.com/LazafairTweet/status/1895573269992132762 https://twitter.com/LazafairTweet/status/1895573269992132762 https://twitter.com/AmericanSandi/status/1895412808021626888 https://twitter.com/AmericanSandi/status/1895412808021626888 https://twitter.com/ckt246531/status/1895461353886003511 https://twitter.com/ckt246531/status/1895461353886003511 https://twitter.com/PatrickT1023/status/1895305789478469823 https://twitter.com/PatrickT1023/status/1895305789478469823 https://twitter.com/yanisaaay/status/1895389884258439385 https://twitter.com/yanisaaay/status/1895389884258439385 https://twitter.com/casadefracaso/status/1895353125848129909 https://twitter.com/casadefracaso/status/1895353125848129909 https://twitter.com/ShelbyJ67270321/status/1895472154013294628 https://twitter.com/ShelbyJ67270321/status/18954721540132946... https://twitter.com/BhamBudMan/status/1895309728475160938 https://twitter.com/BhamBudMan/status/1895309728475160938 > LeArN tO cOdE Hope everything works out, because if it doesn't, it's going to be really hard for me to have any empathy for Trump supporters if bad things happen to them. https://github.com/zmlabe https://github.com/zmlabe

42 points by tartoran 2y ago

move fast and break things, except now it's storm warnings, weather prediction and climate forecasting. What could go wrong? In a country of ~340M and a budget of trillions, what does this really save? Having a few hundred scientists on staff seems worth it. Pretty obvious DOGE is just a propaganda campaign and won't accomplish any of its listed goals. It's just hurting the American people.

JKCalhoun 2y ago
They could save a lot more if they started firing all people who wear glasses.
techorange 2y ago
Areas with dense populations will be financially incentivized to generate their own storm warnings, and we'll save money on sparsely populated areas, so probably rather than spending money equally on tornadoes and hurricanes, we'll see more money spent on hurricanes and less money spent on tornadoes.
- jmclnx 2y ago
  So you are saying, all states need to fund weather research themselves. That way there will be hundreds of vehicles following tornadoes and many planes studying hurricanes. Also each State will need to fund and launch weather satellites ? Nothing like saving money, I guess you can buy and launch satellites cheaper by the dozen ?
  - techorange 2y ago
    Right, but what you are forgetting is, that in exchange for all the efficiency provided by a central government agency, millionaires with only 2 yachts will be able to leverage this private contract into enough money to buy a third yacht.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    When the co-president is the CEO of a company that launches satellites, this sounds like a winning solution
- sundaeofshock 2y ago
  Sparsely populated areas? You mean the areas where we grow all our food? Yeah, we don’t need solid weather reports for areas like that.
Freedom2 2y ago
Well I don't know. Despite all this chaos, the economy is doing better than ever (?), we have the best jobs (?) the best salaries (?), very beautiful salaries. Who knew that a Republican administration would be bad for most people, no one could have predicted it.
- sundaeofshock 2y ago
  We are one month into the Trump admin. I expect the economy will not do so well after the tariffs hit next week and several hundred thousand government employees are laid off. Oh, and I expect we might see further problems when people aren’t getting social security checks.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

croes 2y ago

> The cuts come as Elon Musk, as the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) Musk isn’t the head, Amy Gleason is. Musk does not work for DOGE, nor are there any conflicts of interest between Musk's company and DOGE's activities.

krapp 2y ago
Oh sweet summer child.
dylan604 2y ago
I think you forgot to add /s??? Otherwise, you might want to stop drinking so much kool-aid.
- croes 2y ago
  I thought my last sentence made it obvious. Think I overestimated HN
  - dylan604 2y ago
    I think you underestimate the number of people that actually believe what you wrote
    - croes 2y ago
      Given the downvotes I think you’re right.
      - dylan604 2y ago
        I especially like the response from Mrs Gleason upon learning she was in charge of DOGE. "Wait, I thought you told her!" was said by pretty much everyone involved
  - sundaeofshock 2y ago
    Poe’s Law is hitting hard right now. There are people out there making the arguments you are satirizing. These are rough times…

foxglacier 2y ago

What I don't understand about people complaining about governments removing programs and reducing their staff is that implies either the status quo is just right or it's already not enough. Should they have hired 900 new workers too or just left it alone? Where were the complaints about previous governments not growing them fast enough? Will they accept any correction from an overshoot in finding the right amount? Apparently NOAA grew rapidly in the previous few years [1], so was it underfunded by Obama? [1] https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12406/3 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12406/3

bryanlarsen 2y ago
Sudden unconsidered change in any direction is virtually always harmful.
- the_snooze 2y ago
  Given the need to walk back some firings [1], it's reasonable to infer that the ongoing cuts aren't being done in a particuarly thoughtful manner. [1] https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5302019/bird-flu-usda-firings-reversed https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5302019/bird-flu-usda-f...
geraneum 2y ago
> that implies either the status quo is just right or it's already not enough Or it implies headcount is not the only variable you can tune to increase efficiency.
JKCalhoun 2y ago
See Chesterton's Fence. I'd be surprised if it was not increasing, BTW, given the increasingly volatile climate we find ourselves in.
- foxglacier 2y ago
  Musk has said that if you remove something that turns out to be important, you can always put it back. I think this is how they're operating. Like a giant scream-test. Some staff and agencies will return but only when the problems of their absence have become clear. This is one way to improve efficiency which may be very effective at the cost of some disasters here and there.

JKCalhoun 2y ago

> Huffman lamented the loss of "hundreds of scientists and experts at NOAA" who helped collect data that kept the public informed about dangerous weather events. Perhaps I should learn to stop worrying and love this anti-science (anti-intellectual?) zeitgeist we find ourselves in. (Bummer, seems divinginrods.com is taken, redirects to britishdowsers.org Gotta move fast, I guess.)

jmclnx 2y ago

> "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission," the NOAA spokesman added. "except for anything related to Climate Change, there is no such thing as Climate Change per our all powerful co-dictators. Also, we hope to be closed down so we can be privatized, this way if you want forecasts you need to pay 20 USD per week to obtain them." I think the spokesman left something out, so I added it here above. Best to know all the facts since Musk/Trump likes to skip or lie about the important stuff.

from-nibly 2y ago
I have to pay for these regardless with my taxes. Except with privitization I have a choice.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Until they decide to subsidize AccuWeather as party the buddy system as the create a new swamp of their making by draining the existing swamp Getting life saving weather reports should not require a paid subscription. I know I'll get laughed out of the room, but medical care should not be either.
  - from-nibly 2y ago
    But it does. You can't avoid it costing money. Either you are taxed and the money gets laundered to pay for it. Or you pay for it directly. Either way you are paying for it.

inverted_flag 2y ago

> "I was fired from my dream of working at NOAA. I'm so sorry to everyone also affected," climate scientist Zack Labe wrote on X. He said that he had worked on strengthening the agency's machine learning and AI tools. https://xcancel.com/ZLabe/status/1895244032923836498#m https://xcancel.com/ZLabe/status/1895244032923836498#m Note the replies https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3ljapdyp7os2u https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3ljapdyp7os2u

sebazzz 2y ago
What a negative conspirasist (if that is even a word) platform X has become. Really something to be proud on. Every sound you make on that platform, a truckload of sh*t you get dumped on you - especially if you have something like “scientist” or government employee in your profile.
- sundaeofshock 2y ago
  I agree it’s a horrible experience, so I left. I see no reason to add to user and engagement counts that might help with their ad sales.
dqv 2y ago
https://twitter.com/DanDavi28347755/status/1895538708578992352 https://twitter.com/DanDavi28347755/status/18955387085789923... https://twitter.com/CharlieFis32041/status/1895539692957057139 https://twitter.com/CharlieFis32041/status/18955396929570571... https://twitter.com/mymuddywaters/status/1895531154675286370 https://twitter.com/mymuddywaters/status/1895531154675286370 https://twitter.com/212chirp/status/1895355118859755763 https://twitter.com/212chirp/status/1895355118859755763 https://twitter.com/LazafairTweet/status/1895573269992132762 https://twitter.com/LazafairTweet/status/1895573269992132762 https://twitter.com/AmericanSandi/status/1895412808021626888 https://twitter.com/AmericanSandi/status/1895412808021626888 https://twitter.com/ckt246531/status/1895461353886003511 https://twitter.com/ckt246531/status/1895461353886003511 https://twitter.com/PatrickT1023/status/1895305789478469823 https://twitter.com/PatrickT1023/status/1895305789478469823 https://twitter.com/yanisaaay/status/1895389884258439385 https://twitter.com/yanisaaay/status/1895389884258439385 https://twitter.com/casadefracaso/status/1895353125848129909 https://twitter.com/casadefracaso/status/1895353125848129909 https://twitter.com/ShelbyJ67270321/status/1895472154013294628 https://twitter.com/ShelbyJ67270321/status/18954721540132946... https://twitter.com/BhamBudMan/status/1895309728475160938 https://twitter.com/BhamBudMan/status/1895309728475160938 > LeArN tO cOdE Hope everything works out, because if it doesn't, it's going to be really hard for me to have any empathy for Trump supporters if bad things happen to them. https://github.com/zmlabe https://github.com/zmlabe