Rep. Zoe Lofgren Clarifies NOAA's Role Amidst Privatization Concerns

Clarifying the Weather Act of 2025

• 💡 Rep. Zoe Lofgren addressed concerns about the Weather Act of 2025, clarifying its intent regarding the privatization of NOAA's weather services.
• 🎯 She stated that her co-sponsored bill does not support a radical shift to a commercially owned and operated model for NOAA.

NOAA's Core Mission and Private Sector Role

• 🛰️ Lofgren emphasized that NOAA remains the bedrock of weather data collection, analysis, and provision, a critical government function.
• 🤝 While acknowledging the private sector's growing role in developing new weather forecasting offerings, she stressed that these partnerships should support NOAA's mission, not compromise its role as a trusted, free, and authoritative information provider.
• ⚠️ The bill aims to ensure NOAA can access and use commercially available data to augment its core observational capabilities, not supplant them.

Addressing Misinterpretations

• 🗣️ Lofgren specifically corrected testimony from Thomas Cavett of Tomorrow.io, who suggested the bill would lead to NOAA primarily shifting to a commercial model.
• 📄 She read specific sections of the bill, including provisions on satellite architecture planning and commercial data programs, to demonstrate that it maintains NOAA's essential observational platforms and does not represent a radical departure from current policy.
• 🚫 The core message is that relying on the private sector for primary weather forecasting roles is not an option.