Democrats seek replacement of NOAA officials

The Democratic leadership of the House Science Committee sent a letter to President Bush on May 12 asking him to replace the head of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., and NOAA Deputy Undersecretary for Oceans & Atmosphere Gen. John J. Kelly Jr. The letter came a day after a scathing Commerce Department Inspector General (IG) report was released on huge cost overruns and schedule delays of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)-a NOAA joint program with the Department of Defense and NASA to produce the next generation of weather-forecasting satellites. The IG report cites NOAA for its poor management oversight and ineffective incentives for the NPOESS program. The Democrats say these lapses have increased the program's total cost from a 2005 estimate of $6.8 billion to about $13.8 billion and delayed the time to completion by three years from the original ready date of 2009, according to the letter.