Cruz hits Biden for prioritizing ‘woke initiatives’ over hurricane-hunting aircraft
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is pointing out the Biden administration did not include funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) hurricane-hunting aircraft in his budget earlier this year, a concern after all three planes were grounded with repair issues hours before Idalia slammed into Florida.
NOAA alerted members of Congress on Wednesday night that all three aircraft, which collect critical storm data essential to forecasters, were experiencing mechanical issues in the final hours ahead of the storm’s landfall.
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“The other WP-3D Orion (N43RF), which had been conducting back-to-back, round-the-clock research missions for 11 of the past 12 days on Hurricanes Franklin and Idalia, experienced a mechanical issue, forcing the cancellation of a mission this morning to collect data on Hurricane Idalia,” said an email sent to congressional offices.
NOAA said in addition to gathering data from the hurricane hunter aircraft before it was grounded, information was also collected from satellites, weather buoys, and observing platforms in and on the ocean in addition to other data sources like the National Weather Service’s Doppler radar.
https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1697288722570424398?s=20
“NOAA’s hurricane hunting aircraft grounded due to repairs,” Cruz posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Reminder: Biden’s budget includes ZERO dollars for these aircraft Biden’s NOAA budget request DID include $9.1M for woke initiatives focused on envior justice & equity.”
The Texas senator was referring to the president’s budget request to Congress earlier this year, in which he requested $9.1 million to improve “capabilities and knowledge sharing in coastal communities, and invest in science and management efforts in underserved U.S. Pacific and Caribbean territories.” This aligns with the Administration’s policies related to advancing racial equity and supporting underserved communities.
The mechanical issues with the planes is raising concerns among members of Congress and their staff about this important forecasting tool and how the planes will fare during what is expected to be an active hurricane season.
“NOAA’s statement on the grounding of Hurricane hunter aircraft downplays how bad this situation was. NOAA Corps had a single plane flying 24-hour laps through the storm for the last couple of days, plus the same crew has been flying for 11 out of the last 12 days,” said a Senate Commerce Republican aide speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“Flying through a hurricane is hard on both the plane and the crew, and flying this schedule is a recipe for failure, either of the plane or the crew members due to exhaustion. We were one broken switch away from having zero hurricane hunters in the sky as a major storm approached. We heard from the NOAA Hurricane center that a lack of data from these planes decreases their ability to predict the size and path of the storm,” the aide added.
The three hurricane-hunter planes are approaching the end of their life cycle. Two of the planes have been in service since the 1970’s while the other one has been in service since the mid-1990’s.
“They’re going to have to be retired by 2030, if not sooner,” a former senior NOAA official told the Washington Post. “It really depends on how many flights they do. So if we have a couple active seasons, they’re going to hit their end of life a lot sooner.”
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The president’s budget is merely a blueprint for Congress to consider while working toward funding the government in the weeks to come. It’s unclear if lawmakers plan to include additional funding for the planes in their latest government funding package.
NOAA put forward their plans to procure four C-130 planes in a 2022 aircraft plan. The agency wants the new aircraft to replace two P-3s currently in service and provide the agency with “one additional aircraft to meet the expanding airborne data requirements and objectives.”