It appears the scientific segment of NOAA is firing back against the leadership for its being a lapdog of President Trump:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s acting chief scientist said in an email to colleagues Sunday that he is investigating whether the agency’s response to President Trump’s Hurricane Dorian tweets constituted a violation of NOAA policies and ethics. Also on Monday, the director of the National Weather Service broke with NOAA leadership over its handling of Trump’s Dorian tweets and statements.
In an email to NOAA staff that was obtained by The Washington Post, NOAA’s Craig McLean, called the agency’s response “political” and a “danger to public health and safety.” …
In his email to employees Sunday, McLean criticized his agency’s public statement, saying it prioritized politics over NOAA’s mission.
“The NWS Forecaster(s) corrected any public misunderstanding in an expert and timely way, as they should,” McLean wrote. “There followed, last Friday, an unsigned news release from ‘NOAA’ that inappropriately and incorrectly contradicted the NWS forecaster. My understanding is that this intervention to contradict the forecaster was not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political.” [WaPo]
A statement greatly congruent with my own view, and kudos to McLean for pursuing the matter. For Jacobs, Roberts, and those who conspired with them to pervert the mission of the NWS and NOAA, this may be the first tone on the gong which will herald their exit in disgrace.
As I explained before, this was not some political incident which, while offending the political class, was essentially harmless. No, the NWS‘s services are far too valuable in safeguarding the food supply and, in extreme weather situations, lives directly. By perverting them, the citizens for which President Trump bears a responsibility are put collectively at risk. This is not a trivial change in risk – people taken by surprise by a hurricane tend to die, even in modern houses, because the resources to rescue and rebuild aren’t ready.
If Trump was an adult, he’d admit the error, apologize, and fire Jacobs, et al. But he won’t, because he’s a narcissist.
UPDATE: Jacobs did this in response to an order from Secretary Wilbur Ross. Nonetheless, I still believe Jacobs should resign for malpractice as a leader.
[Reposted after accidentally making it a tab]
