Senator Santorum, last year at the likely request of his own personal weather service Accuweather, proposed
Senate Bill 786, which would effectively privatize the Weather Service. More below the fold.
The bill apparently is still
a concern for many who rely on the Weather Service.
That is why U.S. Senate bill 786 comes as a shock to some boaters. The bill would basically forbid the National Weather Service from providing any information that a private weather service could. The only exception would be in cases of severe weather.
"We depend on it," Miller said. "We need it and it would be an incredible loss and a real detriment to boating safety if it were ever discontinued."
The idea behind the bill is to stop the government agency from competing with private weather services, and foster the growth of those private companies. However, without access to the National Weather Service. Some fear other boaters won't subscribe to a private company to get the information, and head out on the water without a complete picture of the conditions.
Santorum of course believes this bill is like the coolest bill ever.
There's some irony to this as well. There was recent flooding that was quite significant across the state of Pennsylvania. The Weather Service was instrumental in getting warnings out and saving lives. The very weather service that Santorum wants to kill.
The bill would likely stop up-to-date weather reporting and funnel it instead to private sector organizations such as Accu-Weather. Many may not realize but there is an incredible wealth of information on the National Weather Service's websites that delight professional meteorologists, amateurs such as my self, weather nerds and storm trackers, and other researchers. All issued for free (in a sense, because you've already paid for it through your tax dollars.) Santorum's bill would make you have to pay for it. Even though you've already paid for it.
background.
Stop this bill.
Now thankfully, it appears that the bill has few if any sponsors. It's just Santorum's pet bill to give a little something back to Accuweather (who I generally refer to as CrapUWeather. They're a bunch of jerks.)
Contact your Senators and don't let Santorum get his way.
EDITED: Changed the Committee news. A misinterpretation on my part (and sorry it took so long, I was playing in other diaries.)