3 ms·

This is about privatization of weather data, unsurpisingingly. There has been a big industry push to lobby noaa out of existance, cause LEO satellite networks

This is about privatization of weather data, unsurpisingingly. There has been a big industry push to lobby noaa out of existance, cause LEO satellite networks can sell lots more data if there's no noaa service. Also - main customers are insurance providers, who need accurate forecasting for rate setting. Edit for sources: Federal Budget Cuts and Restructuring: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk under the Trump administration, has initiated significant budget reductions and workforce downsizing across federal agencies, including NOAA. Reports indicate plans to cut approximately 50% of NOAA's workforce and reduce its budget by 30%, raising concerns about the potential privatization of weather services and the impact on public safety during extreme weather events. [1] Project 2025 Initiative: The conservative policy blueprint known as Project 2025 proposes dismantling key components of NOAA, including the National Weather Service (NWS), and suggests privatizing weather forecasting services. Critics argue that such measures could undermine public access to essential weather data, leading to increased risks during natural disasters. [2,3,4] AccuWeather's Lobbying Activities: AccuWeather has been reported to actively lobby for the privatization of weather services, aiming to limit public access to free NOAA data. Discussions highlight concerns that such privatization efforts could restrict the availability of critical weather information to the public. [4] As a side note - I interviewed at a good number of weather satellite companies before my current role - it was a stated goal to "supplement noaa gaps in weather data" for "insurance & investment companies". [1]https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-agencies-musk-doge-targeted-list-2025-2 https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-agencies-musk-doge-t... [2]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/08/trump-project-2025-hurricanes https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/08/trump-projec... [3]https://www.reddit.com/r/weather/comments/1e5xacu/accuweather_is_actively_lobbying_to_privatize/ https://www.reddit.com/r/weather/comments/1e5xacu/accuweathe... [4]https://www.theverge.com/24279329/project-2025-tech-policy-guide-trump-admin https://www.theverge.com/24279329/project-2025-tech-policy-g...

scarab92 2y ago
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- bigyabai 2y ago
  Yes? https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/14/politics/noaa-nominee-accuweather/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/14/politics/noaa-nominee-accuwea... It doesn't take more than three seconds of Googling to get your answer. No wonder American media literacy is at an all-time low.
  - scarab92 2y ago
    That's not evidence? In a previous administration, a previous CEO of AccuWeather was appointed to run NOAA. This is extremely common, since who better to run a weather forecasting organisation, than someone who previously ran a weather forecasting organisation. If anything, that's evidence that even when Trump had ample opportunity to privatize NOAA, he didn't.
    - bigyabai 2y ago
      > If anything, that's evidence that even when Trump had ample opportunity to privatize NOAA, he didn't. If you read the article, you might notice that this is an ongoing lobbying operation that has been fighting congress since 2005.
      - scarab92 2y ago
        And yet, despite having all the levers to do so, Trump never privatized it. Since you're conflating anecdotes with evidence, perhaps you should also consider the "evidence" that Trump has already decided not to do exactly what you're seemingly convinced he wants to do. Nor has Congress.
        bigyabai 2y ago
        Trump didn't have all the levers. NOAA cannot be defunded by an executive order.
    - michaelmrose 2y ago
      AccuWeather isn't a weather forecasting organisation. They merely provide an interface to data gathered by others. Trump had zero opportunity to privatize NOAA because you can't do that via executive order furthermore that would be were it even true useless in discerning whether he or indeed others in his circle wanted to do that now.

scarab92 2y ago

[flagged]

bigyabai 2y ago
Yes? https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/14/politics/noaa-nominee-accuweather/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/14/politics/noaa-nominee-accuwea... It doesn't take more than three seconds of Googling to get your answer. No wonder American media literacy is at an all-time low.
- scarab92 2y ago
  That's not evidence? In a previous administration, a previous CEO of AccuWeather was appointed to run NOAA. This is extremely common, since who better to run a weather forecasting organisation, than someone who previously ran a weather forecasting organisation. If anything, that's evidence that even when Trump had ample opportunity to privatize NOAA, he didn't.
  - bigyabai 2y ago
    > If anything, that's evidence that even when Trump had ample opportunity to privatize NOAA, he didn't. If you read the article, you might notice that this is an ongoing lobbying operation that has been fighting congress since 2005.
    - scarab92 2y ago
      And yet, despite having all the levers to do so, Trump never privatized it. Since you're conflating anecdotes with evidence, perhaps you should also consider the "evidence" that Trump has already decided not to do exactly what you're seemingly convinced he wants to do. Nor has Congress.
      - bigyabai 2y ago
        Trump didn't have all the levers. NOAA cannot be defunded by an executive order.
  - michaelmrose 2y ago
    AccuWeather isn't a weather forecasting organisation. They merely provide an interface to data gathered by others. Trump had zero opportunity to privatize NOAA because you can't do that via executive order furthermore that would be were it even true useless in discerning whether he or indeed others in his circle wanted to do that now.