Trump’s Nominated Science Czar Receives Broad Support, From Climate Sceptics To Alarmists
President Donald Trump will nominate meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier to the long vacant post to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), an administration official said.
An administration official told The Washington Post on Tuesday that Trump will soon send Droegemeier’s name to the Senate for consideration. If confirmed as science czar, Droegemeier will fill the 19-month vacancy at OSTP.
“He appears to be a solid choice with an unusually wide range of relevant experience—scientist, university administrator, political appointee, served on boards and commissions,” former Trump transition team leader Myron Ebell told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“He looks to be a Republican and comfortable with conservatives (who after all are much more supportive of sound science than the left), but not a political lightning rod, which is probably a good thing,” Ebell said via email.
Droegemeier will first have to survive the Senate where Democrats could stymie of confirmation vote for the for the vice president for research at the University of Oklahoma. Democrats may use confirmation hearings to grandstand on climate policy, while some GOP lawmakers could hold up the process over their own pet issues.
Trump’s pick to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Accuweather CEO Barry Myers, has been held up by Democrats and GOP senators with bones to pick.
However, Droegemeier seems to have bipartisan support from conservative leaders to former Obama administration officials.
“I think he is a very solid choice,” Obama’s former science czar, John Holdren, told The Post. “He is a respected senior scientist and he has experience in speaking science to power.”
Climate scientist Judith Curry, a noted skeptic of catastrophic global warming theories, also seemed pleased with Trump’s choice to head OSTP.
