NWSEO Nominates Former U.S. Congressman Nick Lampson
To Serve on a Committee to Assess the NWS’s Modernization Program
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(July 29, 2010) NWSEO is nominating former U.S. Congressman Nicholas Lampson to serve on the committee for the Assessment of the National Weather Service’s Modernization Program.
Congress has asked The National Academy of Sciences to conduct an assessment of the $5 billion National Weather Service modernization project completed during the 1980s and 1990s. The focus will be on using the lessons learned to support future improvements to the NWS capabilities.
The assessment will address high-impact weather and new science technologies that allow for better forecasts; the integration of new technologies and better models into NWS operations; and improving current partnerships with private industry, academia, and other governmental agencies. The project should provide advice on how NWS can best plan, deploy, and oversee these future improvements based on the lessons learned from the NWS modernization.
Nick Lampson served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 22nd district from January 2007-January 2009. Prior to that, he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 9th district from 1997 to 2005.
During his time in Congress, Lampson was chairman of the House Science Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, which has oversight of the National Weather Service. He has a strong focus on energy issues - particularly alternative energy and acknowledges the important role weather observations and forecasting play in managing an energy grid heavily reliant on alternative energy.
In 2008, the congressman gave a speech calling for an increased role for the NWS in interacting with the emergency management community. This plan later became known as the NWS Decision Support Initiative. It was former Congressman Lampson’s efforts that led to the co-location of the Houston/Galveston Weather Forecast Office with the Galveston County Emergency Management office.
In March, 2007, Rep. Lampson conducted an oversight hearing on NWS, at which time he challenged DOC Undersecretary Lautenbacher on the Bush Administration’s plans to close and consolidate the nation’s 122 Weather Forecast Offices. As a result of Rep. Lampson’s actions, Undersecretary Lautenbacher cancelled the consolidation plans the next day. This led to the early retirement of the NWS’s director, who had been developing the consolidation plans (CONOPS).
If former Congressman Lampson is selected to serve on the committee, he will be one of approximately 15 volunteer experts who will meet over the next two years to develop a consensus report for each of the two phases of the work. Phase 1 will provide a comprehensive assessment of the entire end-to-end NWS modernization enterprise with a focus on lessons learned from the effort to plan, deploy, and oversee the NWS modernization. Phase 2 will apply the lessons learned in phase 1 to advise NWS on future directions.
Nick Lampson’s knowledge of the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, his diverse experience and progressive thinking will be a great asset as the National Research Council moves forward with Assessment of the National Weather Service’s Modernization Program.