Nature News reports in the latest issue:
The chief of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has called for the creation of a National Climate Service to manage and disseminate information about global warming.
Like the National Weather Service, the service would fall within NOAA and be a repository for federal research that would be accessible to agencies and the public alike. NOAA administrator Conrad Lautenbacher says that having a central scientific organization to collate this information could help to depoliticize climate research. The service would not have any regulatory authority.
The Senate Committee for Commerce, Science and Transportation passed legislation by John Kerry (Democrat, Massachusetts) to create such a Climate Service last December. Lautenbacher says that the White House supports the idea in principle. NOAA plans to seek funding to organize the service in the 2010 budget proposal.
In my personal opinion, I think this is a great idea. Climate change science is inherently multi-disciplinary and a central information house that could pull together all the research, results, and syntheses would be an asset to climate change researchers, politicians, media outlets and the public at large. Note though there is no proposal yet, but this would follow into this election cycle and could be a hot topic for debates. I’ll be follow this development closely.
How about if we just give the Environmental Protection Agency back its spine?
But the EPA has regulatory authority. Like the above quote says, the climate change office would act much like the National Weather Service in providing information and services. Other agencies could then regulate based on the findings of the climate change office. Besides, climate falls more within the realm of NOAA than the EPA.
yeah, seems odd to try and regulate change. and EPA needs spine. i’d keep them separate.
Boy oh boy! Talk about fighting for funding. Neither of these agencies have the slightest intention of delivering a scientific assessment, they are jealous of the IPCC (which boasts that it does no research!). They want to do just the same, select the sources and “edit” the recommendations. Any more for the gravy train? Perhaps they should submit bids to deliver gravy!