Subcommittee Democrats Remain Concerned About Proposed Weather Forecasting Legislation
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing titled, “Restoring U.S. Leadership in Weather Forecasting, Part Two” to examine ways to improve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) weather forecasting, and to receive testimony on draft legislation to prioritize weather-related research. Today’s hearing supplemented a prior hearing held on May 23, 2013. Testifying before the Subcommittee were the Honorable Kathryn Sullivan, Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Vice President for Research, Regents’ Professor for Meteorology and Weathernews Chair Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. William Gail, Chief Technology Officer for Global Weather Corporation and President-Elect of the American Meteorological Society and, Dr. Shuyi Chen, Professor of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the University of Miami, Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
Democratic Members noted that some improvements were made to H.R. 2413, the Weather Forecasting Improvement Act of 2013, from its draft version but emphasized a number of areas of concern including the need to refocus the core of the legislation on its stated purpose of improving forecasting and protecting lives.
Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) addressed this need in her opening statement, “We all agree that weather forecasting must be improved. As we learn more about weather forecasting in the United States—how it is done and the partnership that has evolved between NOAA, academic researchers, and private businesses— it becomes evident that the core of the bill should be refocused away from its emphasis on research at OAR, the Office of Oceans and Atmospheric Research, and more on the actual forecasters’ needs at the National Weather Service. It makes more sense to authorize the National Weather Service directly and to put the forecasting operation in the lead on guiding research into innovations that have real utility. If our goal is to enhance forecasting, empowering the forecasters would seem to be the obvious way to proceed.”
Acting Administrator of NOAA, the Honorable Kathryn Sullivan, discussed concerns about how the bill would impact the funding of other mission critical activities such as climate and oceans research, observations, and research supercomputing. “We cannot ignore the investments in observations and foundational research that set the stage for long-term environmental sustainability and future service advancements. We must maintain equilibrium between the push-pull of research and operations, and between responding today and preparing for tomorrow.”
Ms. Bonamici also noted that the distinction between “weather” and “climate” research is counterproductive and shared the views of the witnesses that weather and climate should not be considered as distinct elements but instead should be treated as inseparable parts of the same Earth system. One of the witnesses, Dr. Shuyi Chen, stated, “There is no artificial dividing line between weather and climate.”
Members emphasized the importance of social science research in developing more effective advanced warning procedures that extend beyond simply increasing the amount of lead time provided.
Representative Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) said, “In the time that I have been on this committee we have held hearings on the use and effectiveness of social science research. There are a number of members of this committee who have point blank rejected the use of that kind of research and the work that we do. So I am intrigued by the witnesses who have articulated a compelling argument for the integration, building on a foundation of social science and behavioral research that would augment the kind of weather forecasting that we also need to invest in.”
Related Content
Next Article Previous Article