Bottlenose dolphins swim along the coast in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has over a dozen offices and facilities in Louisiana, researching in fields such as coastal restoration, weather forecasting and fisheries science. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator)
A new interactive map highlights the impact of a government agency that’s provided critical climate information as the Trump administration has targeted it for budget cuts and reduced research.
The nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund has released an online tool that tracks 735 subagencies under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and where the services they provide are used. Its analysis includes the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.
After taking office, President Donald Trump authorized billionaire Elon Musk to evaluate spending and efficiency throughout the federal government. Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency was ordered to cut 10% of its workforce, which includes more than 10,000 employees.
“This transparency is more important than ever,” Joanna Slaney, vice president for political and government affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a press release. “DOGE’s attacks on NOAA programs are already undermining our safety from extreme weather, and any additional cuts to weather reporting and storm tracking would threaten our communities even further.”
NOAA provides daily weather forecasts and emergency alerts for extreme weather across the county, including hurricane forecasting and storm tracking. The agency also leads climate research, coastal restoration and fisheries monitoring work both within the agency and through local partnerships.
Louisiana has more than a dozen NOAA offices, ranging from weather forecasting stations to oceanic monitoring hubs. The agency is also involved in several issues central to the environmental and economic health of Louisiana, such as the annual Gulf dead zone forecast and coastal restoration.
Highlights from the map include the Estuarine Habitats and Coastal Fisheries Center in Lafayette, the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center in Slidell and the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program based in Baton Rouge.
The map is based on publicly available data from NOAA and other official sources to show where offices and research centers are and what budget cuts could impact.
“The ‘NOAA in Your State’ tool is one of the most useful government products available to us all,” Rick Spinrad, NOAA administrator under President Joe Biden, said in the news release.
NOAA’s data being publicly available is a keystone feature of the agency’s work, Spinrad added.