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SILVER SPRING, MD – On Friday morning at the suburbs Washington, DC, government scientists in persimmons and sensitive shoes got to work – under a imposing bronze sculpture representing a hand releasing seabirds – en route for a A small science agency caught in a political mess caused by President Trump's tweet about Hurricane Dorian.
One of the employees on arrival was Neil Jacobs, the chief of the agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We are under investigation," said Dr. Jacobs, looking tired, a large shoulder bag slung over his shoulder. "I can not talk."
Investigations examine a attack against independence d & # 39; a an agency that, despite its enormous importance to the US economy, is generally well below the radar. This has changed in recent weeks when meteorologists working for NOAA corrected Trump on Twitter after misrepresenting the path taken by Hurricane Dorian. The president then ordered the agency to back up his version of the events, triggering a political clash.
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the The National Administration of Oceans and the Atmosphere is hardly a household name, but it plays an important role in modern life.
One of Its main tasks are to forecast the weather and produce the data that farmers rely on to plant their crops, which airlines rely on to design their routes and which are controlled by millions of Americans. their smartphones. The agency also studies the world's oceans, regulates fishing and operates sophisticated satellites that, among other things, detect threats in space to protect astronauts.
It "concerns every American life every day, in a constructive and generally appreciated way," said Kathryn Sullivan, appointed to senior scientific positions by Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, and continued to run NOAA under President Barack Obama.
NOAA's scientific research is also critical to the US's ability to understand climate change – a role that forces the agency to conduct independent research, but which goes against the White House's has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the established science of global warming.
Given this, it should be noted that the conflict between Mr. Trump and the agency was not about climatology – what Mr. Trump in the past described as a hoax – but following a statement by meteorologists reassuring residents of Alabama that (contrary to the president's claims) they were safe from hurricane Dorian.
The White House sent a request for comment to the Department of Commerce, who oversees the agency and whose secretary, Wilbur Ross, threatened to fire NOAA employees in the midst of clashes. In a statement, Kevin Manning, a spokesman for the department, said that "Secretary Ross has threatened to fire any NOAA staff for public forecasts and statements regarding Hurricane Dorian. ".
The independence of NOAA is partly structural, according to current and former staff members. With the exception of the fisheries section, none of its divisions focus primarily on regulation. Thus, unlike the Environmental Protection Agency or other government regulators, few industries have a financial interest in weakening the agency or limiting its authority.
The agency continued to produce a steady stream of climate-related scientific data. He publishes an annual report Global Climate Report and told the public just a few weeks ago that this month of July was the hottest ever recorded.
This contrasts with the actions of some other federal governments agencies.
Environmental Protection Agency two years ago deleted the climate page of his website "Reflecting the priorities of E.P.A under the leadership of President Trump." At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Head of the Climate and Health Program recently filed a whistleblower complaint alleging retaliation for speaking out on climate change.
NOAA's ability to continue its research and dissemination in climatology stems in part from its relative anonymity, even within the federal government. "NOAA is a very small agency," said Paul Sandifer, the agency's chief scientific advisor from 2011 to 2014. With less staff and a smaller budget than other scientific agencies, he said, she has generally managed to escape control of the White House .
The agency is actually an amalgam of six separate pieces. The National Meteorological Service, whose Birmingham office was the target of Mr. Trump's anger, is responsible for forecasting. The Maritime Fisheries Service manages the waters off the coast of the country and a separate office, the National Ocean Service, coastal and oceanic product science.
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research provides "science to better manage the environment," according to NOAAand Marine & Aviation Operations manages the vessels and planes that collect data. The satellite service of the agencye "acquires and manages the operational environmental satellites of the nation. "
According to Eileen Shea, head of the agency's climate services division from 2007 to 2012, many industries rely on climate information provided by NOAA. They include insurers, agricultural producers and all those who decide to invest money in the construction of new facilities.
"There are companies and lobbies with a great interest in continuing to see climate data available," said Shea.
The culture within the agency is also important. NOAA scientists and its supervising career staff have a reputation for maintaining the independence of this agency. Last year, the Union of Concerned Scientists asked more than 63,000 scientists from 16 federal agencies to assess their apparent independence. Of the NOAA scientists who responded, two-thirds agrees with the statement that the agency adheres to its policy of scientific integrity "(by comparison, one-third of E.P.A scientists agreed).
Friday afternoon, Dr. Jacobs sent an email to all staff to try to reinforce the troops. "Scientific integrity is at the heart of NOAA's mission and culture and is essential to maintaining public trust," he wrote. "Our work saves lives."
The Agency's sense of independence partly reflects the fact that, unlike employees of other federal agencies, agency employees tend to live in the places they serve and see themselves as advocates for them. places. "You actually want to tell me not to give my neighbors the best information I have in case of a storm?" Said Dr. Sullivan, describing the typical point of view of these scientists.
But this also reflects the motivations of the agency staff. Researchers in this country often have close relationships with universities, collaborating with academics for peer-reviewed articles that can advance their careers, according to Rick Spinrad, NOAA's Chief Scientist from 2014 to 2017.
The perception that agency scientists are subject to political interference could lead outside academics to stop working with them, he said. "Everything they see as a threat to this relationship is going to induce a pretty visceral reaction," said Dr. Spinrad. m said.
Previous administrations have sometimes challenged NOAA's independence, "said Terry Garcia, the agency's general advisor to President Bill Clinton. He said that other agencies had pushed NOAA scientists to interpret the Endangered Species Act, which gave NOAA the responsibility to protect Salmon and other animals – in a way that would help private landowners. The agency resisted this pressure, he said.
The Dorian episode is not the first test of NOAA under the Trump administration.
In 2017, the president appointed Barry L. Myers, then CEO of AccuWeather, to head the agency. Mr. Myers had previously called to privatize the weather service, a position that aroused opposition both inside and outside NOAA. His appointment has since landed.
Craig McLean, NOAA Acting Chief Scientist, who testified a complaint with the agency alleging that he had violated its policy of scientific integrity, said that he thought the current problems would disappear. "We've had spurious attacks over time," said Dr. McLean. "We passed them."
Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center, an office of NOAA, was watching a storm of a different kind, known until now simply as "Potential Tropical cyclone Nine "- move north-west off the coast of the Bahamas to begin to determine when and where it could hit the United States.
For more information on the climate and the environment, follow @NYTClimate on Twitter.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs wrote a report from Huntsville, Alaska. Lisa Friedman wrote a report from Washington.
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