Some Things Never Change Department.
So, our new President looks for someone to nominate as the new head of NOAA. Maybe things will change for the better soon?
Not likely. The new nominee is Dr. Janet Lubchenco. Her nomination stalled for a bit in the Senate but, in a move typical of old school Washington, DC, her nomination (along with that of the Nominee to head The Office of Science and Technology Policy) was moved right along in an unannounced closed door session of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The two nominees — John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco — cleared the committee in a unanimous vote this afternoon as part of an unannounced, closed-door markup, a committee aide said. The panel’s approval sends the nominees to the Senate floor, where they should pass by unanimous consent within the coming week, according to leaders of the committee from both sides of the aisle.
“They’re going to be confirmed,” said Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). Hutchison said there are no Republican holds on the nominees.
Lubchenco seems on the surface to be an excellent choice and she certainly does provide a nice dose of lip service to the idea of good science being the core of regulatory policy.
She says she believes the time has come “to create a new climate of trust.” between fishermen and regulators.
In fact, she says that what is needed is “data to believe in.”
But, her intimate involvement with that 800 lb Gorilla, The Pew Trusts, makes all her words ring a bit less true.
Lubchenco has been a Pew fellow, a member of the Pew Oceans Commission and the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative that evolved from it. She also lists herself as a director of the Pew trust-financed SeaWeb.
What? How can they put someone in charge who is so closely associated with such a partisan group with such a blatantly obvious anti-fishing agenda? How can they even consider putting the leading spokeswoman for the foxes in charge of the henhouse?
Simple. They do it behind closed doors as always.
Information from these articles and posts was used in writing this post:
Pew Ties Cloud Industry View of NOAA Chief Nominee
NOAA Nominee, Dr. Jane Lubchenco
Senate committee approves stalled NOAA nomination
Top NOAA nominee’s Pew ties deserve full vetting
They are ALL worthwhile reading.
