Oregon State confirms: George Taylor is NOT the State Climatologist

As the question of whether George Taylor is the State Climatologist goes national and right-wing apologists scramble to defend him (on MSNBC, Fox, and Drudge), local blogger Brian Hines did the obvious thing.

He asked Oregon State for some facts.

Over on his blog, HinesSight, he's got the full details and full transcript - but Oregon State's spokesman, Mark Floyd, was crystal clear:

Hines: (1) There is no position called “state climatologist” authorized by the State of Oregon.

Floyd: As far as I know, you are correct on No. 1.

Hines: (2) The title of “state climatologist” has been given to the head of the Oregon Climate Service by OSU.

Floyd: No. 2 also is correct, though it is stated simply, which ignores the context of history. ...

Hines: (4) Because Taylor does something similar to what the person who truly was the state climatologist did previously, he’s called the “state climatologist,” even though this position doesn’t exist.

Floyd: No. 4: That sounds right. You should know that the origin, funding, duties, and history of state climatologists vary from state to state.

Can we put an end to this debate now?

Oregon State University - the university that gave George Taylor the informal title of "state climatologist" - has now acknowledged that that there is no state-authorized state climatologist and he's merely called that because he does similar tasks as what the former, actual state climatologist used to do.

Read the rest of the coverage by Brian Hines. Discuss over there.

Feb. 09, 2007 Posted in elsewhere.