The Cynics Among Us

..., Including me, might simply say there's really no point in spending time and money gathering current information about the earth's meteorological state, if you have no intention of using it (Dimmer view of Earth). Ultimately, it can only be used by others as ammunition to illustrate how deeply and completely you abandoned your duty to properly care for the welfare of the country. And the planet. Best to just cripple the ability for the EOS (Earth Observing Satellite) system to measure state-of-the-earth data.
Or, a more earthy person might point out that, since politically and culturally there is absolutely no will whatsoever to do anything about the devastation of the planet, You Can't Fatten a Steer By Weighing It. So why waste the effort?