From Sarah Hogg, Daily Kos :
For a third time, Trump has nominated a non-scientist with questionable ethics, Barry Myers, to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
NOAA is a critical agency that studies physical science, the atmosphere, and the climate. Previous NOAA administrators have been trained and accomplished scientists ranging from geologists to astronauts. Myers is not a scientist but a businessman and the former CEO of AccuWeather, making him grossly unqualified to head the agency.
Not only is Myers not qualified, he has been on the record calling for the privatization of the National Weather Service, which provides free weather updates to the public and competes with AccuWeather’s business model, highlighting conflict of interest concerns.
This is ridiculous! Sign and send the petition to your U.S. senators if you agree that we need a scientist and environmental leader at the helm of NOAA, not a businessman.
NOAA is a critical agency that studies physical science, the atmosphere, and the climate. Previous NOAA administrators have been trained and accomplished scientists ranging from geologists to astronauts. Myers is not a scientist but a businessman and the former CEO of AccuWeather, making him grossly unqualified to head the agency.
Not only is Myers not qualified, he has been on the record calling for the privatization of the National Weather Service, which provides free weather updates to the public and competes with AccuWeather’s business model, highlighting conflict of interest concerns.
This is ridiculous! Sign and send the petition to your U.S. senators if you agree that we need a scientist and environmental leader at the helm of NOAA, not a businessman.
In addition to lack of credentials and clear conflict of interest concerns, AccuWeather, under Myers' watch, is mired in sexual harassment and assault allegations.
Dozens of AccuWeather employees allege “widespread sexual harassment,” which prompted the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to investigate when he was first nominated in 2017. Because employees reported these abuses and the company was aware of allegations, AccuWeather was fined $290,000 by a federal oversight agency after the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs published their findings.
Now that his nomination has been quickly shuffled through committee and is already up for a Senate floor vote, it is time we tell our Senators that we deserve much better than Barry Myers, an unqualified pro-Trump businessman whose company is under investigation for sexual harassment.
