Executive Order 13744-Coordinating Efforts To Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events
Issued 2016-10-13 by Barack Obama
Plain-English Overview
AI-generated summary explaining what this action does, who it affects, and why it matters
This executive order coordinates federal government efforts to prepare the nation for space weather events. Space weather events—including solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances—occur regularly and can affect critical infrastructure like GPS, satellite communications, aviation, and the electrical power grid. Extreme space weather events could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, which would cause cascading failures affecting water supply, healthcare, and transportation across entire continents.
The order establishes that the federal government must be able to predict and detect space weather events, alert the public and private sectors about impending threats, have plans in place to protect critical infrastructure, and respond to and recover from space weather effects. It directs federal agencies to coordinate their preparation efforts and work with state, tribal, and local governments, as well as academia, nonprofits, the private sector, and international partners.
The order assigns coordination responsibilities to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and establishes a Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation Subcommittee to ensure federal agencies work together on research, development, and implementation. The goal is to minimize economic loss and human hardship from space weather events by creating what the order calls a "space-weather-ready Nation."
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Constitutional Analysis
How this action fits (or doesn't) within Article II authority and existing law
Executive Order 13744 addresses "Executive Order 13744-Coordinating Efforts To Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events". The President's stated reasoning: "and recover from the effects of space weather." Executive orders are a long-established exercise of presidential power, used by every President since George Washington. They are grounded in Article II of the Constitution, which vests executive power in the President and directs them to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
Executive orders cannot create new law, contradict existing federal statutes, or exceed the President's constitutional authority. The legitimacy of any specific order depends on whether it operates within statutory authority Congress has delegated, directs the executive branch on matters within its constitutional purview, or attempts to substitute executive policy for legislative choices. Courts can and do review executive orders for conformity with the Constitution and federal law.
Official Summary
Administration of Barack Obama, 2016 Executive Order 13744—Coordinating Efforts To Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events October 13, 2016 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to prepare the Nation for space weather events, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy . Space weather events, in the form of solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances, occur regularly, some with measurable effects on critical infrastructure systems and technologies, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite operations and communication, aviation, and the electrical power grid. Extreme space weather events—those that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure—could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, resulting in cascading failures that would affect key services such as water supply, healthcare, and transportation. Space weather has the potential to simultaneously affect and disrupt health and safety across entire continents. Successfully preparing for space weather events is an all-of-nation endeavor that requires partnerships across governments, emergency managers, academia, the media, the insurance industry, non-profits, and the private se