The man picked by President Trump to head the federal agency controlling Norman’s National Weather Service Center and the Severe Storms Lab recently resigned and sold all of his interest in weather forecaster AccuWeather.
Barry Myers apparently did it to gain favor with a Democratic controlled US House and more support as he must be renominated by President Trump in order to win Senate confirmation. The Senate did not act on his nomination last session and Myers must be renominated this Congress.
Myers faced some criticism from Democrats who wondered whether he would limit the kinds of products that the National Weather Service offers publicly to reduce competition for AccuWeather. But now that Myers has resigned as officer and director from AccuWeather and sold all of his interest in the company, it remains to be seen whether Democrats and his critics will change their opinions.
Myers is one of the world’s leading authorities on the business of weather, and on the use and distribution of weather-related and similar information, and has been an integral part and a leading force on AccuWeather’s executive management team for decades.
He was nominated by President Trump to become the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Myers was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee after a public hearing and his nomination was forwarded to the full Senate for confirmation.
His nomination, along with hundreds of others, did not receive Senate confirmation before the expiration of the 115th Congress and will require re-nomination by the President to advance in the 116th Congress.
In accordance with the ethics pledge from Barry Myers to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and in his testimony and comments made to the U.S. Senate, Myers has fulfilled his commitment to fully divest himself of AccuWeather and of any and all related interests.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, Myers served as AccuWeather’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, joining the company in 1989. He also served as a tenured member of the Graduate School faculty at The Pennsylvania State University for 18 years and as a member of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, teaching and researching in areas related to environmental and planning law.