The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell is getting bipartisan political support in its effort to ensure that funding for the nation's six regional climate centers is included in the next federal budget.
Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-NY) and Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY) have each sent letters of support for the regional climate center program, which received $2 million in funding in last year's federal budget, to Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor.
"We are concerned because President Clinton has not included the regional climate program in his recent budget proposals," said Henrik N. Dullea, vice president for university relations. "With the aid of our elected representatives, we are attempting to bring to the administration's attention the important service the six regional centers provide to the nation for a relatively small investment of federal dollars."
Funding for the climate centers is administered through the Commerce Department under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program. Congress restored funding for the fiscal year '97 budget after the Clinton administration proposed termination of support last year. Funding for FY-'98 is not assured at this time.
The six regional centers provide understandable and useful climate information to local governments, state agencies, engineering and legal firms, farmers, police departments and other organizations. In addition to the center at Cornell, the regional centers are located at the Illinois State Water Survey in Champaign, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in Columbia, the University of Nevada at Reno and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell employs six staff members and responds to hundreds of requests monthly for accurate climate data. Its monthly climate summaries generate news coverage throughout the northeast region of the country.