Proposed GOP budget cuts target tsunami warning centers

"Tsunami forecast model" map created by the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii predicting the wave height of the tsunami generated by the Japan earthquake

/ AP

The GOP budget plan that passed through the House last month aimed to cut funding for a tsunami warning center that issued a slew of warnings around Japan's devastating earthquake.

Complete Coverage: Earthquake in Japan

The budget, which proposed about $60 billion in budget cuts, would slash funding for the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That would potentially cripple the effectiveness of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, which issued a series of warnings over the past several days regarding the situation in Japan, where an 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered a massive tsunami along the nation's east coast. (The PTWC is a part of the National Weather Service, which falls under the umbrella of NOAA - the organization responsible for providing tsunami warnings in the U.S.)

The Republican's proposed "continuing resolution" to fund the government, which was defeated in the Senate this week, aimed to cut $1.2 billion - or 21 percent - of President Obama's proposed budget for NOAA, ClimateProgress.org reports.

In an interview with Hawaii's Star Advertiser last month, Barry Hirshorn, Pacific region chairman of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, warned that the proposed budget cuts could result in the loss of lives.

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"People could die. ... It could be serious," he said, noting that Weather Service employees and employees of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center could be hit with furloughs and closures.

"It would impact our ability to issue warnings," he added.

Democratic Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii called the proposed cuts "reckless."

"Drastically reducing the ... ability to forecast weather and alert our communities about imminent, dangerous events is irresponsible," she said.

Dan Sobien, the National Weather Service's union president, said in a statement to Think Progress that GOP cuts would put "considerable stress" on national tsunami monitoring and response capabilities. 

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"NOAA has put together part of a contingency plan to handle such a massive cut and while it spares tsunami buoys, all other coastal buoys are non funded and there will be furloughs at both Tsunami Warning Centers (TWC)," he said. "These furloughs will take away the TWC's ability to upgrade tsunami models and will put considerable stress on watchstanders ability to react."

"While today's disaster is of particular concern to everyone, we are just now entering tornado season and soon will be hurricane season and our organization firmly believes any effort to defund and dismantle our nations early warning system for all disasters is very unwise," he added.

Congress has yet to pass a final budget for fiscal year 2011, and Republicans and Democrats continue to spar over the extent to which domestic programs will be cut.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-WVA and Chairman of Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is urging Congress not to make significant cuts to NOAA's core weather and essential prediction services in upcoming negotiations over the budget.

"Congress must heed this cruel wakeup call and stop proposed cuts to essential NOAA prediction programs that would endanger lives," he said in a statement Friday. "We must push to make the smart investments in our greatest minds and resources at NOAA so that we can better predict severe weather events and be prepared for the worst."

65 Photos

Quake, tsunami slam Japan

[bamio]

As if the "Tsunami Warning" helped the Japanese folks any. Don't pay for what doesn't work.

[cimht]

It did, many more thousands would have died in Japan without the tsunami warning system.

[ferv888]

Lucy,
Either you lied with your headline or your headline writer did. There is absolutely nothing in the 7% cut in NOAA funding that addresses anything of the early warning bouy system. You are either a Democratic hack or a no nothing.

The bill is straight up and NOAA can decide what areas to cut. You tell me all about those who are and have been paying taxes that have been downsized/or lost their jobs. Do you think they have to make choices are where and what spend on????

What drivel!!!!!

FERV888

[Not_One_of_Your_Sheeple]

I encourage you all to read an excellent book by former CBS insider Bernard Goldberg called Bias. In this book Bernard points out exactly the kind of liberal reporting we see in this article:

1. use of editorializing phrases "slash funding", "potentially cripple"
2. misleading use of numbers "cut $1.2 billion - or 21 percent - of President Obama's proposed budget for NOAA" is it a 21 percent cut or is it merely a 21% lower than what Oboma wants?
3. sight sources from only one side of the debate:
Source 1: ClimateProgress.org
Source 2: Interview with regional chairman the service employees union
Source 3: A Democrat Representative of Hawaii speaking to ThinkProgress.org
Source 4: ThinkProgress.org
Source 5: Democrat Senator Rockerfeller
Source 6?: A republican representative or senator? Nope they were not asked to comment
Source 7?: Anyone at all with an oposing opinion? Nope - that might result in real journalism.

Regardless of what side of the argument you are on, wouldn't it be nice to hear both sides?

[Rodeo_Joe]

Wall Street gets a Mega-Bail-out - but your kids can drown?

The middle class is waking up. Bye-Bye GOP & your (China) jobs.

Move your money to a credit union. Starve Wall Street & Big Banks.

Time to get EVEN - Pull the Plug - drivers, start your engines, ...

[sjc_1]

They won't cut tax breaks for oil companies nor negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, but cut public safety until it is worthless. People need to see what the GOP really stands for.

[levelheadedtoo]

GOP, how about using the same strategy and logic in other areas of government.

1. NORAD how about cutting the early warning system for incoming attacks? We have never been attacked by a missle but we have been attacked by the ocean.
2. Lets cut the funding for GPS. We can find our way to the voting booth next election without it.
3. Don't need those ocean floor sensors that track shipping. When was the last time we were really in danger of a Sub attack?
4. Get rid of the weather detection system that warns about tornados and huricanes. We all know that these weather event are churned up by the mobile home lobby anyway.
5. Can't see any need for the FAA controling air traffic. Airplanes have a front window. Let the pilots fly the old fashion way.
6. Can't stop an earth quake, so cut the sismic funding. Earth quakes are going to happen and the GOP knows that the libs are most likely to get hit by one so save a little money
7. No since in researching volcanos. Where are the volcanos in the US? In the north west, thats libs territory too.
8. Cut the cash that goes to levy construction. Mostly poor Americans living along those rivers. Keep the shore line funding because that is where the rich politicians, lobbiest and wealthy have their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th homes.

If the GOP is really serious about raising money, tax religion. It would balance the budget in the first year. Hey, God is creating havoc all over the world, its time he picked up some of the cost to rebuild after those tantrums.

[34sender]

Oh my, how I agree!

Except equating God with most churches is a stretch....

Tax the churches -- they want to be involved in politics and government, let them pay for their seat at the table.

[Rodeo_Joe]

Republicans dispise West Coast liberals, Union people, Latinos, Muslims, Blacks, Environmentalists, etc, etc, etc.

The above listed groups should not volunteer for military service.

Let the Republicans fight their own phony WMD wars for Big Oil.

- Pull the Plug

[RobAla]

You seem to forget that both Democrats and Republicans voted to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. You seem to ignore that a left wing Democrat President has kept the US in those wars. This is not as simple as you make it out to be.

[levelheadedtoo]

Bush wasn't smart enough to know when he was being played by Cheney, Rumsfield and Rice. They went into Afghanistan with the backing of the world and into Iraq with the world against us. Classic "dog chasing car" after they caught the car(Iraq), it has been dragging us down the road ever since.

[dvplaw1]

I am sure that CBS will be doing a followup asking why we are not bringing our aircraft carriers and all the supporting ships since Democrats keep calling for cutting our military. I am sure I must have missed that part of the report.

[010sonny]

Another war is what you want? Cutting a $800 Billion a year Military Industry. You have a problem with that? We could take $ 300 Billion a year from this Pentagon and apply all of it to these domestic services and still have monies to go to reduce our debt. Even after that we would still be Five times greater in military industries build up than any other country in the world. Learn from history and mind your own business. Stay out of every police BS save the world crap and care for this populace and its politics. Roberts Court ruling on Jan.2010 of unlimited corporate funds to our politics has now made it legal for fascism to infest our politics. Your so worried of other people problems that you can't see the enemy is here and is merely buying your government with their corporations. No disclosure required; Chinese, Iranians, Russian, French corporations are now eligible to infiltrate our politics and own it. Small example of what that has in store for you is now taking place in Wisconsin. Corporatism invasion to seek to eradicate unions. NO you say just turn your head and walk away.From a high of 15% of workers in membership to unions to today less than 7%. Now fascism, we all know how that works.

[LadyGoodmann]

That's fine. Cut our still-developing warning systems. But don't come crying to the American people, who have been financially raped by both governmental parties and Wall Street greed, when a tsunami or a hurricane comes screaming up the Potomac. Cut education, too, while you're at it. Apparently ignorance of the masses is bliss for the privileged.

[older_american]

And did you expect any other response from THE GOVERNMENT?
The primary job of any government is to stay in business and get more budget money. I worked in the Federal Government for 30+ years and I know from first hand experience

Anytime any government agency hears that their budget will be cut, they ALWAYS respond
by saying that their most visible program will be affected.

Anybody with common sense will realize that its all BS.

There is always plenty that can be cut.


Its NOAA so cut all that climate change nonsense.
(National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration - they don't do earthquakes btw)

I didn't hear them defend climate change research did you?

Also the Department of Interior covers earthquakes under the U.S. Geological Survey

[kcstymie1]

NOAA does do earthquake monitoring as part of the Tsunami Warning Centers.
Where did you work in the US government for 30 years that resulted in your warped view? The IRS?
There is plenty of fat an waste that can be cut in the military budget that would spare much of the Republican proposed cuts in "discretionary" spending.
The Secretary of Defense even says we don't need the alternate engine for the F-35 at the cost of $3B over the next few years. Boehner won't even consider cutting it because it is being built by Rolls-Royce and General Electric in Boehner's district.

[RobAla]

He should not tap into it for this. As one who is normally very critical of President Obama, I would have to say that I agree with most of his words regarding the rising gas prices. I hope he will be true to his word. I was glad that he clarified to the press that the strategic oil reserves are not to be used to play around politically with oil prices, but rather to be used for emergencies. The only thing that I thought he was a disingenuous about was his statements about his encouraging the production of oil in the US. He should not have stopped the effort President Bush started to open up ANWAR for drilling, and he should not have shut down the deep water drilling in the Gulf. Only one of the 35 permits he listed was for deep water drilling. Deep water drilling is still all but shut down.

I was happy to hear him list coal as an energy source that the US should develop. This is a departure from his 2008 statements about "bankrupting" coal fired power plants. I hope he is beginning to understand that the technology is not yet available to move the US off oil, but I agree that is a good long term goal.

Regarding his words on the US budget, I agree that it time to stop playing political games with the nations federal spending. I hope he is serious about that. So far, he and the Democrats have not proposed hardly any meaningful cuts to federal spending. We are projected to have $1.65 trillion in annual federal deficit spending this year for existing federal programs that we can not afford. It is unthinkable that anyone in Washington would consider new massive federal entitlement programs which would require massive amounts of additional spending. As a gesture of good faith to show that he is serious, the President should agree with Republicans to defund the NEW MASSIVE ENTITLEMENT SPENDING OF $105 BILLION YEARLY ON THIS TERRIBLE HEALTH CARE LAW that the majority of Americans do not want. This cut would not cut jobs because it is additional spending on a new entitlement. This is a no brainer.