Fair Weather Effective Partnership in Weather and Climate Services (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix B: Public-Private Provision of Weather and Climate Services: Defining the Policy-Problem, Roger Pielke, Jr., University of Colorado
Appendix B: Public-Private Provision of Weather and Climate Services: Defining the Policy-Problem, Roger Pielke, Jr., University of Colorado
Pages 115-134
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From page 115... ...
nations in the world in the efficient production and effective use of weather information. Yet as science, technology, markets, and demands related to weather information evolve, lack of discussion or debate of appropriate roles and responsibilities has the potential to limit future progress of the nation's weather and climate ser.
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From page 116... ...
UNDERSTANDING COMPLEXITIES IN ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE WEATHER AND CLIMATE SERVICES ENTERPRISE The National Weather Service The NWS and its predecessors have for more than a century had legislative authority for governmental provision of weather services. In this role, agency officials have long been sensitive to potential conflict with the private sector.
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This agreement was titled the "Six-Point Program" and is reproduced in its entirety in Box B.1. The agreement was, however, never adopted as formal policy by the Weather Bureau.2 1American Meteorological Society, 1949, Report of the executive secretary, 1948, Bulletin of tile American Meteorological Society, v.
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It is necessary, therefore, that a redefinition of functions be made to recognize the changes since that time.... While all of the recommendations of this report can be implemented under the existing organic act, we feel it is desirable that a study be made to determine whether the basic law should be revised.6 3Weather Bureau' 1948, Policy with respect to private practice of meteorology and instructions regarding cooperation with private meteorologists, Circular Letter 22-48, March I
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From page 119... ...
A protracted and public debate ensued.7 Weather satellite operations were not privatized, but the debate created sufficient impetus for the NWS and the private sector to discuss codification of roles and responsibilities. One result was NWS adoption in 1991 of a statement on the public-private partnership in the provision of weather services.
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From page 120... ...
The primary reason for differing perspectives on roles and responsibilities related to the National Weather Service stems from a conflict inherent in the multiple missions that the agency is expected to serve. The frequently invoked Organic Act of 1890 gives the NWS responsibility for public safety through the provision of storm warnings anal responsibility for enhancing economic activity.
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From page 121... ...
Few missions are explicitly provided in law, leaving the provision of services to ad hoc implementation and oversight.l4 At the outset, an important exception should be made for weather and climate services provided by the military in support of national security. Such services are beyond the scope of the present analysis, leaving for present discussion weather services provided by agencies such as the non-NWS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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From page 122... ...
program and supported by public funds, capitalized a subsidiary private company, Weather Information Technologies, Inc., or WITI.17 WITI worked closely with a publicly funded research entity also under UCAR management, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, on projects such as using National Weather Service weather forecast models to provide information to consumers by zip codel8 and competed for and won a $15 million contract to provide Hong Kong with consultative services for the design of a new airport.l9 WITI was sold in 1999. · The Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL)
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From page 123... ...
Other reasons for this trend are the growing support among universities of commercial activities, which is itself motivated by federal policy, decreasing funding from state and federal sources, and the highly visible success of commercialization activities in other areas of technology such as biotechnology and information technology. In the atmospheric sciences there does exist a high degree of variability across institutions for the support of commercialization.24 The twin influences of an environment that encourages commercialization and the fact that the atmospheric sciences have not yet gained the visibility (and thus demands for accountability)
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From page 124... ...
In early 2002 its web site stated that it operates an entity called Foresight Weather,26 out of its Colorado-Research Associates27 division subsidiary, focused on providing weather predictions to the energy industry. The Foresight Weather web site stated that it relies on scientists at the neighboring publicly funded National Center for Atmospheric Research to provide research and technology, and to serve as consultants in support of the products and services that Foresight Weather sells to its clients, primarily in the energy industry.
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From page 125... ...
For example, in 2001 the American Meteorological Society presented an award to three Oklahoma television stations for their coverage of the May 3, 1999, tornado outbreak, which provided the public with details on the exact location and path of individual tornadoes unmediated by scientists or the government.33 Many public and private organizations ranging from the New York State Thruway Authority to State Farm Insurance to USA Today collect weather and/or climate information for direct use or further dissemination to paying clients. A company called Global Atmospherics, Inc., owns the nation's only lightning detection network and sells its products to a range of customers, including the National Weather Service, The Weather Channel, and the 30R.A.
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County Emergency Managers The Weather Channel FIGURE B.1 Example of weather service providers. The notion and depiction of "NWS Service Flow" follows from D.R.
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Weather Research Program Workshop on the Weather Research Needs of the Private Sector, Bulletin of tI7e American Meteorological Society, submitted.
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DEFINING THE PROBLEM The problem then is that participants in the national enterprise for the provision of weather and climate services lack the means to judge appropriate roles and responsibilities from the standpoint of meeting national goals and the mechanisms to reach shared expectations on roles and responsibilities. Part of the reason for the lack of means and mechanisms is that the weather and climate services enterprise is highly complex and sprawls across government, private, and academic sectors.
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From page 129... ...
Over many decades, some in the NWS and the private sector have expended time and resources working against each other rather in support of each other. The institutional conflict has resulted in behind-the-scenes legislative maneuvering, such as resulted in the mid-199Os termination of agricultural weather services provided by the NWS, and more recently in conflict over the CWSA push to modify the NWS Organic Act.
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From page 130... ...
In other areas of government, by contrast, there are such mechanisms.43 Accountability, Transparency, and Legitimacy. The lack of stabilized expectations for roles and responsibilities in the provision of weather and climate services places obstacles in the way of citizens holding government accountable.
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From page 131... ...
Carbone, 2002, Weather impacts, forecasts, and policy: An integrated perspective, Bulletin of tile American Meteorological Society, v.
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From page 132... ...
playing field" for healthy competition rather than "drawing a line" restricting competition. To the degree that promulgation, adoption, and implementation of specific policies would facilitate judgments of appropriate roles and responsibilities, such policies will likely focus on the establishment of flexible processes rather than regulation or proscription of specific activities.
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From page 133... ...
There exists in academia a substantial body of precedent for judging appropriate roles and responsibilities. However, for the most part, such precedents do not appear to have been applied routinely across the atmospheric sciences.
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From page 134... ...
In this regard, weather and climate services are following in the technology policy footsteps of areas such as biotechnology and information technology that have successfully tapped the power of the market to accelerate the transfer of knowledge into products and services that benefit society. Make no mistake: these areas with more developed technology policies continue to grapple with difficult questions at the interface of government, markets, and societal needs.
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