Privatizing the weather is not a new conservative aim.
Nearly two decades ago, when the National Weather Service updated its website to be more user-friendly,
#Barry #Myers, then executive vice president of #AccuWeather, complained to the press that
“we work very hard every day competing with other companies, and we also have to compete with the government.”
In 2005, after meeting with a representative from AccuWeather, then-Senator #Rick #Santorum introduced a bill calling for the NWS to cease competition with the private sector, and reserve its forecasts for commercial providers.
The bill never made it out of committee. But in 2017, #Trump picked #Myers to lead NOAA.
(Myers withdrew his nomination after waiting two years for Senate confirmation.)