Texas floods spark worry as Trump appointee firms linked to privatising weather forecasts
Critics worry about conflicts of interest, as cuts and privatisation may benefit private weather firms linked to Trump appointees
As commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick oversees the US government’s vast efforts to monitor and predict the weather.
The billionaire also ran a financial firm, which he recently left in the control of his adult sons, that stands to benefit if US President Donald Trump’s administration follows through on a decade-long Republican effort to privatise government weather forecasting.
Deadly weekend flooding in central Texas has drawn a spotlight on budget cuts and staff reductions at the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), two agencies housed within the Commerce Department that provide the public with free climate and weather data that can be crucial during natural disasters.
What’s drawn less attention is how the downsizing appears to be part of an effort to privatise the work of such agencies. In several instances, the companies poised to step into the void have deep ties to people tapped by Trump to run weather-related agencies.
Privatisation would diminish a central role the federal government has played in weather forecasting since the 1800s, which experts say poses a particular harm for those facing financial strain who may not be able to afford commercial weather data.
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The effort also reveals the difficulty that uber-wealthy members of Trump’s Cabinet have in freeing themselves from conflicts, even if they have met the letter of federal ethics law.