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EPA ADMINISTRATOR HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF METEOROLOGISTS IN SHARING ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION WITH PUBLIC

Release Date: 06/26/2002
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Environmental News

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman today spoke to meteorologists from around the nation about the important role they can play in bringing environmental information to their audience. Whitman spoke as part of the “Eyes on the Environment” workshop being presented to weathercasters as part of the American Meteorological Society’s 31st Conference on Broadcast Meteorology.

“We know that the Americans trust you as a source of credible information. We also know you have the experience and the tools to make science real and accessible to people in just a minute or two, day in and day out,” Whitman told attendees. “My long range forecast for this effort is simple: together, we will help people everywhere better understand what a watershed is and how important sensible watershed management is to meeting the water challenges we face in the years ahead.”

Because of the importance of watersheds on ecosystem health, human existence (safe and plentiful water supplies, commerce and recreation), and the recognized visible science role TV meteorologists play in the everyday lives of their viewers, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and EPA co-sponsored the workshop which was held in Williamsburg, Va.

President Bush has included $21 million in this 2003 budget for a new EPA initiative to protect, preserve and restore waterways across the country. EPA is collaborating with AMS as part of the Year of Clean Water celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.

The training opportunity was designed to enhance weathercasters’ understanding of watersheds, the natural and man-made forces that impact them, and how the watersheds, in turn, affect human, animal, and plant life. The goal of the workshop was to provide information on watersheds and demonstrate to weathercasters the how's and why's of bringing watershed information to their viewers.

The workshop featured an innovative program about the Chesapeake Bay that was launched by NBC4 in Washington, D.C. in February. The NBC4 project, developed under a cooperative agreement between the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) and EPA, utilizes stunning satellite imagery and advanced on-line technology to educate the public about watersheds by linking it to the weather. NBC4 Chief Meteorologist Bob Ryan will describe NBC4's new watershed awareness project during his presentation.

Meteorologists also heard from a panel of federal watershed experts, including Robert H. Wayland, Director of EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds; Jim Sedell, InterDeputy Area Water Coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service; and Margaret Davidson, Acting Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Glenn Page, Director of Conservation with the National Aquarium of Baltimore, and Fran Flanigan, former Director of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, provided the meteorologists with a local perspective about the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The workshop concluded with a presentation by Dave Jones, President and CEO of StormCenter Communications, Inc., who will provide the broadcasters with ideas and examples for integrating watershed information on the air (and on the web).

Workshop participants received a CD-ROM that includes information about the nation's 21 major river basins. The CD-ROM includes Digital Elevation Models and satellite imagery of each of the basins as well as a fly-over of the nation’s watersheds, developed by StormCenter Communications.

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