On the North Carolina coast, wind picks up, rain pours down and the power flickers. You reach for your phone to track the hurricane — but instead of vital storm data, you hit a paywall. Access denied.
For millions of North Carolinians, this could become reality. Donald Trump’s administration’s attempt to defund and privatize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration threatens the very existence of an agency that provides free, life-saving forecasts and emergency alerts. In a state routinely battered by hurricanes, floods and rising seas, NOAA is more than essential.
With over 3,000 miles of shoreline, N.C. regularly faces hurricanes, coastal erosion and inland flooding. When disaster looms, NOAA’s timely warnings and storm tracking help communities brace for impact, evacuate safely and protect property and lives.
Beside safety, the state's ocean economy contributes billions to GDP, sustaining industries like fisheries, agriculture, tourism and shipping — all reliant on NOAA’s forecasts and environmental data. Even inland, farmers rely on weather reports for crop decisions. Construction workers depend on forecasts to ensure safety and efficiency. Everyday families use NOAA data to plan their daily lives, from tide charts to drought outlooks.
The administration’s push to downsize NOAA through the Department of Government Efficiency directly threatens North Carolina’s safety and economy. Budget cuts and layoffs could slow or degrade essential weather and climate services. Timely hurricane tracking, flash flood alerts and long-range forecasts could become slower and less reliable precisely when families need them most.
Most alarming is the possibility of weather paywalls. Privatizing NOAA’s free public data could shift critical alerts behind subscription models, placing rural, low-income or disaster-prone communities at even greater risk. For North Carolina’s vulnerable coastal towns and isolated mountain communities, losing open access to essential information is not only unfair but dangerous.
NOAA’s role extends beyond immediate forecasts, providing critical climate data and environmental research that helps North Carolina prepare for long-term threats. Its scientists and experts monitor and predict environmental changes, enabling state and local governments to plan infrastructure projects. Losing the capability to develop sustainable coastal management strategies and implement policies to mitigate climate impacts would leave the state flying blind just as climate risks accelerate.
The economic costs are equally severe. Without NOAA’s accurate forecasts and environmental data, key industries will suffer significant disruption. Jobs and livelihoods across the state, from coastal communities like Wilmington to mountain towns like Asheville, are at stake.
NOAA also protects what North Carolinians love most about their state — the beaches, marine wildlife, fisheries and coastal ecosystems — by monitoring coastal erosion and habitats critical for wildlife. These are central, symbolic elements of the state's identity.
