"Barry Myers, the CEO of AccuWeather Inc., had no answer when a congressman asked him last year if the United States had been experiencing more severe weather incidents than 100 years ago.

"Not being a scientist, I'm going to pass on that question," Myers told a House panel.

Myers will be in the hot seat this week when he tries to convince a Senate panel that he's qualified to lead NOAA and its 12,000 employees, more than half of whom are scientists and engineers working around the globe.

"It's like asking somebody to run your restaurant who doesn't know how to cook," said Dan Sobien, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization. "Honest to God, nobody knows what he's going to do.""

Rob Hotakainen reports for E&E Daily November 27, 2017. [2]