Millions of Americans and countless communities are suffering from Helene.
In recent years, I’ve made some wonderful friends and enjoyed memorable visits to the Gulf side of Florida—from Tampa down to Sarasota, and places in between such as Longboat Key. I’ve also loved visiting and getting to know so many of you in North Carolina, which is seeing terrible flooding.
The beauty of all these places has so lifted me, as has the spirit of all those I’ve met. It’s heartbreaking to read of the extensive damage there.
For those of you caught in the storm, stay safe, and let us know if and how we can be helpful as you and your communities recover from the storm.
Sadly, the devastation of Helene and the challenge of recovery and relief from the storm put into even more stark relief the recklessness of Project 2025.
As we’re experiencing right now, it’s challenging enough as it is.
But as late, powerful storms like Helene become more likely and common, Project 2025 would decimate the federal government’s capacity to both anticipate and respond to climate emergencies and extreme weather events. It further endangers so many Americans, and makes recovery that much more challenging.
And all because the authors of Project 2025 and the interests behind it are deeply hostile to any science that tracks the growing risk of climate change.
Here’s the Project 2025 plan:
Gutting the NOAA and NWS
As background, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration “predicts changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coastlines and provides data that informs lifesaving forecasts such as tracking hurricanes tracking and…intense weather, such as hurricanes.” It includes the National Weather Service, National Ocean Service, The Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and other agencies.
According to Project 2025, the NOAA "has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.” (p. 675). Its focus, Project 2025 alleges, “seems designed around the fatal conceit of planning for the unplannable.”
That’s right, Project 2025 is against trying to plan for future weather events.
As a result of this hostility, NOAA “should be broken up and downsized.”
The plan goes on to propose:
“fully commercializ[ing] [the National Weather Service’s] forecasting operations” (p. 675)
reviewing the data of the National Hurricane Center and National Environmental Satellite Service to ensure it is “presented neutrally, without adjustments intended to support any one side in the climate debate” (p. 676)
“disband[ing] the preponderance of the climate-change research” of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, because “it is the source of much of NOAA’s climate alarmism” (p. 676)
ensuring politicized appointments to lead the NOAA — “Ensure Appointees Agree with Administration Aims. Scientific agencies like NOAA are vulnerable to obstructionism of an Administration’s aims if political appointees are not wholly in sync with Administration policy. Particular attention must be paid to appointments in this area.” (p. 677)
These proposals greatly risk the nation’s ability to track and predict major weather events. As the LA Times sums up: Project 2025 “urges the demolition of some of the nation’s most dependable resources for tracking weather, combating climate change and protecting the public from environmental hazards.”
As a USA Today analysis stated: “NOAA’s satellites, aircraft, weather stations and meteorologists constantly collect weather data and expertly offer detailed weather forecasts and predictions to residents, researchers and nearly every third-party weather program, forecasting service or app. NWS weather alerts notify us of hurricanes, tornados and flooding. The NWS forecasts fire weather and issues watches, warnings and advisories for high winds, life-threatening rip currents and other hazards.”
More broadly, the proposals “block and make less available information about climate change in order to serve an agenda of climate change denial.”
FEMA
As for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Project 2025 proposes raising the threshold for emergencies before assistance can be granted to victims (page 153). “Alternatively, applying a deductible could accomplish a similar outcome while also incentivizing states to take a more proactive role in their own preparedness and response capabilities.”
As one analysis explained: “In other words, states and localities should bear the greatest financial burden for disaster preparation, response, recovery and resilience and that’s where Project 2025 would put it.
For Southwest Florida, this would be…well, in a word…a disaster.”
SBA Loans
Finally, Project 2025 (page 750) proposes to “end to SBA direct lending” program, “the only instance of which” is the disaster loan program."
In the coming months, these loans will be critical for businesses and families recovering from Helene: “90 percent of this disaster aid serves individuals such as homeowners, as opposed to small businesses. So, while the program is a crucial resource for helping local economies bounce back, the loans play an even more critical role in helping individuals and families begin the long road to recovery.”
Project 2025 eliminates it all.
Folks, this is not a drill. Our nation faces serious challenges of all sorts, as we see daily.
An ideology that treats science and the federal government (government at all) as enemies will only make those challenges that much more difficult to face and address.
I’m on Florida Gulf Coast.. experienced a direct hit from Ian. Devastating effects of Helene .. again. The insurance is out of control and quickly becoming out of reach for lots of residents. It’s a frightening prospect that these agencies could disappear
Isn’t it ridiculously stupid GOP wants to do away with NOAA, FEMA etc?
Sooner or later most of us get hit with a tornado, flooding, hurricane or some other natural disaster or a disaster of our own making.