Comment: Florida needs the NOAA

Recently, the Trump management has arbitrarily released at least 800 public servants – including many in Florida – from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These cuts do not simply affect those who lose their work. They make Floridians less secure.

Noaa accounts for less than 1% of the federal budget and offers families from Key West to Pensacola a number of life services for life -contrary (and wallet), supports industries that contribute trillion dollars for the economy and a healthy ocean for everyone to enjoy it. If you ever checked the weather forecast that was ready to evacuate from a recently from a hurricane like Helene or Milton from a hurricane or Milton, you have eaten a Red Snapper or checked whether Red Tide was blossoming, you have benefited directly from the NOAA services.

Instead of investing in these advantages that provide a significant statement for taxpayers, the Trump administration and the Ministry of Government Efficiency (Doge) ruthlessly reduce or plan the privatization of the most important services. They attack hard -working public servants who selflessly serve their country with these mass shys and freeze federal financing.

To the NOAA employees, as the first-class experts in their fields who have made Florida their home in the National Hurricane Center in Miami or in the Southeast Fisheries regional office in St. Petersburg. You are working hard to make permanent changes that directly improve the quality of our lives.

For example, take fishing. Fischer and Noaa have worked for decades to bring the US fishing back into sustainability. Florida's golf and Atlantic fishing-many of them were once healthy, nutritious food near the collapse bidden, support millions of livelihoods and offer world-famous leisure fishing.

Red Snapper is a good example. The seasons were long in the nineties, but the health of this popular commercial and leisure fishing was an all -time low. Through the work of NOAA with local fishermen and her squad of the fishing experts, fishing has made great progress in recovery and now offers regular opportunities for some of the best fishing in the Golf and some of the best tasting fish that you ever have on your plate.

Unlimited by the experts who work directly with fishermen to improve fishing, unnecessarily brings the small fishing communities along the Florida coast to an economic danger, Florida's reputation as a global tourist and sports fishing goal and threatens to eat the ability of every American to eat sustainable, delicious sea fruits in Florida.

Another remarkable example is the national weather service, many of which may not recognize that NOAA is operated and the basis not only for weather forecasts, but also emergency warnings and severe weather warnings for floods, hurricanes, tornados and more.

Instead of giving the Americans free access to this data, the Trump administration would like to design the weather service like any streaming service that they subscribe to. Would you like to see what bad weather is going on your way? That will be $ 15 a month.

This would be catastrophic. Imagine communities like those in cedar keys who have confronted three hurricanes in 13 months to pay life-saving information-or risk losing them if you need the most urgent.

Timing couldn't be worse. Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common and we see a quick intensification of storms like Hurricane Milton that quickly put life in danger. In 2024 alone, the climate nature disaster and extreme weather events cost Americans over $ 182 billion. How much more does it cost us if we cannot prepare properly?

The ruthless agenda of the Trump government for NOAA and the indiscriminately mass shots that have taken place are horrific and harmful, and they reduce our competitiveness on the global stage. The dismissal of these officials is a catastrophic decision and the consequences will be felt by millions. We have to stand up for you and our neighbors. Florida needs Noaa.

Sarah Poon is Associate Vice President of Resilient Fishery Solutions at Environment Defense Fund. Reggie Paros carries out Advocacy campaigns to protect people's health and access to clean air, water and energy in the environmental defense fund. This item of opinion was distributed by the Invadering Sea website (www.theinvadingsea.com), publishing news and comments on climate change and other environmental problems that affect Florida.