Coalition Letter - People Power United supports National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Letter sent to members of Congress against cuts to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

People Power United joined a coalition of local, state, and federal organizations to send a letter to Congress to oppose cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Shout out to Ocean Defense Initiative for leading this effort. Here is the letter sent on behalf of our membership:

July 24, 2024

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 

On behalf of our 62 organizations and supporters from across the United States, the undersigned groups urge you to oppose the Commerce, Justice, and Science Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill. This bill would include a drastic 11% cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and would hinder the agency’s ability to support coastal communities, predict and track severe storms, understand the impacts of climate change on our nation’s fisheries, and responsibly manage and protect our coastal and marine resources. For example, community-based national marine sanctuaries—that are habitat for countless species and serve as living laboratories, outdoor classrooms, and tourism and recreation destinations—are facing an unprecedented 40% budget cut at a time where five new sites are undergoing the public sanctuary designation process. This bill would also introduce a slew of extreme anti-environment policy provisions that have no place in the appropriations process. This bill is an unacceptable attack on our ocean, wildlife, biodiversity, climate, and communities. We urge you to reject it when it moves to the floor for a final vote. 

Last June, Congress and the White House agreed on topline funding levels for Fiscal Year 2025. Those pre-negotiated funding levels are painful enough. It is both egregious and disingenuous for the House to move forward with bills well below those agreed-upon funding levels. The proposed $676 million (11%) budget cut for NOAA would inhibit the agency’s ability to inform and prepare people and communities for weather patterns that climate change is making more unpredictable and extreme. 

NOAA operates a fleet of satellites, laboratories, and cooperative institutions across the country that research weather, climate, fisheries, coasts, and other oceanic and atmospheric phenomena. This research impacts many private sector industries, affecting more than one-third of U.S. GDP, and the navigation systems used by armed forces. NOAA also provides critical short and long term data vital to protecting citizens and property from disasters and extreme weather. The significant cuts included in this bill would affect their ability to perform these essential roles, despite just having experienced a year of record-breaking ocean temperatures which are predicted to help fuel an above-normal storm season—the impacts of which we are already witnessing, with the recent devastation left by Hurricane Beryl. 

The policy riders in the bill are equally damaging. For example, the bill includes language that would:

(i) Delay offshore wind development under the guise of marine mammal protection, while at the same time blocking funding to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and Rice’s whales 

(ii) Prohibit NOAA from studying the impacts of climate on fisheries, undermining the ability for U.S. fisheries to adapt to these impacts 

(iii) Prevent any funds from being used to support Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021, ‘‘Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 7619) 

Many of the harmful anti-climate and environment riders included in this bill have already been defeated in the form of amendments or riders to FY24 appropriations bill text. Including these provisions in this bill only wastes Congress’ time, resources, and taxpayer dollars, each of which would be better spent producing bipartisan legislation that meets the needs of coastal and ocean-dependent communities and safeguards our ocean resources for decades to come. We urge you to reject these damaging and unrealistic riders. 

These are a few examples of the deep problems with the bill, as there are too many harmful provisions and specific cuts across the Commerce, Justice, Science FY25 appropriations bill to list them all. Together, these riders and budget cuts represent a concerted effort to advance an agenda of climate denial, with harmful implications for ocean ecosystems and coastal communities. Congress needs to reject these anti-environment and anti-ocean provisions in the face of increasingly frequent and dangerous weather events in a changing climate. We urge you to carry out your foundational duty of funding our government and ensure that this damaging bill does not move forward. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Sincerely, 

Alaska Wilderness League Action 

American Bird Conservancy 

American Rivers 

Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) 

Attorneys for Animals 

Buffalo Field Campaign 

CCAN Action Fund 

Center for Biological Diversity 

Center for the Blue Economy

Chispa 

Climate Crisis Policy 

Conservation Law Foundation 

Cultivating Lives Educational Services, Inc 

Earthjustice 

Endangered Habitats League 

Endangered Species Coalition 

Environmental Protection Information Center- EPIC Extreme Weather Survivors 

Great Old Broads for Wilderness 

GreenLatinos 

Healthy Gulf 

Healthy Ocean Coalition 

Inland Ocean Coalition 

Interfaith Power & Light 

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute Kettle Range Conservation Group 

Kids for Saving Earth 

Klamath Forest Alliance 

Latino Outdoors 

League of Conservation Voters 

Mass Audubon 

Mennonite Central Committee U.S. 

National Audubon Society 

National Marine Sanctuary Foundation 

National Ocean Protection Coalition 

National Wildlife Federation 

Natural Resources Defense Council 

NY4WHALES 

Ocean Conservancy 

Ocean Conservation Research 

Oceana 

Passionist.Solidarity Network 

People Power United 

Resource Renewal Institute 

Seattle Aquarium 

Seatuck Environmental Association 

Shedd Aquarium 

Sierra Club

Southern Environmental Law Center Surfrider Foundation 

Sustainable Ocean Alliance 

Taproot Earth 

The Conservation Angler 

The Earth Bill Network 

The Florida Aquarium 

Union of Concerned Scientists 

Urban Ocean Lab 

Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center WE ACT for Environmental Justice Wyoming Untrapped 

Yaak Valley Forest Council

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