More on George Taylor

There was a post on George Taylor at a site affiliated with the University of Colorado, Prometheus, Should A Scientific Advisor be Evaluated According to Political Criteria?. Now the answer to that is obviously no. I left the following comment:

The title "State Climatologist" was a title given to him by Oregon State University and himself. He was never the State Climatologist, Oregon has no such thing. By taking that title he gives the impression he is speaking for the government and people of Oregon - he is not.

The author responded:

Ron- Thanks. It is actually a bit more complicated than you suggest -- the "State Climatologist" is a federal designation under NOAA, see:

http://www.stateclimate.org/arsco/
But to keep this on point. According to the Governor's own comments cited above, this is not about George Taylor's qualifications or federal-state turf. It is, in the governor's own words, about Mr. Taylor's taking a position that differs from that of the governor.

OK, I guess the governor can't fire him anyway if it's not even a state position. I found this on the AASC (American Association of State Climatologists) site linked above.

The individual holding the directorship of the ARSCO, usually the State Climatologist, must also be qualified in terms of education and experience. The individual should also have the desire and the "heart" to serve his/her state's need for climatological data and information. The individual should be a willing advocate on behalf of the ARSCO and the other partners. The individual must be able to devote an appropriate amount of time to make the ARSCO successful.

Still nothing on who designated George Taylor the State Climatologist. The author indicated that this was a NOAA designation although I could find no evidence of this at the NOAA site. So the question remains who made George Taylor the "State Climatologist".

That said it appears that the AASC has nothing to do with the state of Oregon and perhaps it would be best to leave it up to the national organization to address the issue of George Taylor's science or lack of it and simply make it clear that he is not speaking for the state of Oregon or it's citizens.