Polk Times

Congressman Scott Franklin, representing Florida's 18th district, has initiated the Transformational Artificial Intelligence to Modernize the Economy against Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act (TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act). This bipartisan legislative proposal utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to improve weather predictions and enhance disaster response. Parallel legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Tim Sheehy of Montana.

“As devastating weather events continue to threaten lives, homes and communities across the country, the need for faster, more accurate forecasting is critical,” stated Congressman Scott Franklin. In his role as Chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Environment Subcommittee, Franklin emphasized that the Act seeks to modernize forecasting systems and disaster preparedness by leveraging AI. He highlighted the importance of American innovation and uniting federal, academic, and private sector efforts to reduce reliance on foreign data sources.

Senator Schatz stated, “Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more deadly, and AI can be a powerful tool in saving lives and livelihoods.” He underscored that the bill aims to utilize AI's processing and predictive abilities for enhanced forecast accuracy.

Senator Sheehy noted that extreme weather and wildfires incur substantial economic costs and cause significant harm. “By incorporating leading-edge artificial intelligence into our forecasting and disaster threat prediction modeling, we will have the ability to know where, how big, and how bad weather is going to be,” he said. He called for innovation and leadership to protect Americans from future disasters.

The TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act tasks the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with developing AI-driven models for forecasting weather and wildfire events. The initiative intends to reduce dependency on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' dataset by establishing a U.S.-owned global weather dataset. The Act also encourages collaboration between the private sector and academia to advance AI forecasting research and products.

In 2023, the United States witnessed 28 separate billion-dollar disasters, highlighting the urgency of revamping predictive capabilities to safeguard lives and communities. The TAME Act is designed to improve governmental ability to foresee and address these threats through enhanced forecasting accuracy and speed.