Threat to Free Wind Reports - Please Read

[ChicagoKitesurfing]

Please help keep the weather reports free and informative. The NOAA and NWS reports are under threat by companies that iwindsurf, etc, that USE THIS FREE DATA and charge YOU for it. Contact your senator(s) and tell them what you think. These should be free, remain free, and if anything, expanded upon.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_i ... m?State=IL

The text of my message is below:

Some of the ‘for pay' weather services are aggressively pushing to introduce a bill that would make realtime weather data unavailable online, because free weather data from the NWS and NOAA directly competes with their weather forecasts.

This is a risk to lives, and just plain ridiculous. NOAA and NWS forecasts should remain public and should be a service that is continued and expanded upon. Especially with Katrina, weather should not be taken for granted and it is a duty of the government to inform citizens FOR FREE of conditions and changing patterns. Period.

[V]

You guys all need to send word about keeping the NWS NOAA service free!

Dear Vytas:

Thank you for contacting me with your opinion on the National Weather Service Act of 2005 (S.786). The weather affects our everyday lives regardless of severity, and the National Weather Service (NWS) does an excellent job notifying the public about what they can expect on a day-to-day basis from Mother Nature.

As you may know, the NWS was created 135 years ago to forecast the weather and provide warnings to protect life and property. It has evolved into a national meteorological database that can be accessed by other government agencies, the private sector, the public and the global community.

I agree that the National Weather Service Act of 2005 would unduly limit information provided by the NWS. This Act seeks to focus the NWS solely on alerting the public to severe weather conditions. This would remove the NWS as a source for general weather broadcasts, essentially allowing only private companies to compete over this service.

The Act is currently being considered in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. I do not serve on this panel, but I will discuss your concerns with my colleagues who do.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me in the future on this or any issue of concern.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator


P.S. Our system does not allow direct response to this email. However, if you would like to contact me again, please use the form on the website: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/