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  2. The Republican War on NOAA

The Republican War on NOAA

By mikethemadbiologist on July 8, 2006.

I suppose the Republicans have concluded that the best way to solve the problem of global warming is to destroy the government agencies that collect the data and fund the research in this area. The latest target: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. For a full report on what the Republicans want to do, the Friends of NOAA has a very helpful pdf; for the short version, this MyDD.com diary has a good summary. Basically, every area of NOAA is slashed, but this particular cut takes the cake for both pettiness and short-sighted idiocy (italics mine):

The House Mark does not provide funding for rent at the new National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The NOAA facility houses a number of NOAA field offices, including the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the National Weather Service Forecast Office for the Norman area. Since the rent costs are necessary expenditures, NOAA could be forced to cut severe weather research at NSSL. NSSL estimates this cut may require a RIF of up to eight employees and two Cooperative Institute scientists.

Remember one thing: this is not incompetence. This is by design. The conservatives want to weaken NOAA, as batshit loopy as that sounds.

Tags
Conservatives
Fucking Morons
Funding

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