"I'm a scientist. I'm blowing the whistle on the Trump administration."

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: July 20, 2017 at 2:46:03 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] I'm a scientist. I'm blowing the whistle on the Trump administration.
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> I’m a scientist. I’m blowing the whistle on the Trump administration.
> By Joel Clement
> Jul 19 2017
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/im-a-scientist-the-trump-administration-reassigned-me-for-speaking-up-about-climate-change/2017/07/19/389b8dce-6b12-11e7-9c15-177740635e83_story.html>
>
> Joel Clement was director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Interior Department until last week. He is now 
> a senior adviser at the department’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue. 
>
> I am not a member of the deep state. I am not big government. 
>
> I am a scientist, a policy expert, a civil servant and a worried citizen. Reluctantly, as of today, I am also a 
> whistleblower on an administration that chooses silence over science.
>
> Nearly seven years ago, I came to work for the Interior Department, where, among other things, I’ve helped endangered 
> communities in Alaska prepare for and adapt to a changing climate. But on June 15, I was one of about 50 senior 
> department employees who received letters informing us of involuntary reassignments. Citing a need to “improve talent 
> development, mission delivery and collaboration,” the letter informed me that I was reassigned to an unrelated job in 
> the accounting office that collects royalty checks from fossil fuel companies. 
>
> I am not an accountant — but you don’t have to be one to see that the administration’s excuse for a reassignment such 
> as mine doesn’t add up. A few days after my reassignment, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testified before Congress 
> that the department would use reassignments as part of its effort to eliminate employees; the only reasonable 
> inference from that testimony is that he expects people to quit in response to undesirable transfers. Some of my 
> colleagues are being relocated across the country, at taxpayer expense, to serve in equally ill-fitting jobs. 
>
> I believe I was retaliated against for speaking out publicly about the dangers that climate change poses to Alaska 
> Native communities. During the months preceding my reassignment, I raised the issue with White House officials, 
> senior Interior officials and the international community, most recently at a U.N. conference in June. It is clear to 
> me that the administration was so uncomfortable with this work, and my disclosures, that I was reassigned with the 
> intent to coerce me into leaving the federal government. 
>
> On Wednesday, I filed two forms — a complaint and a disclosure of information — with the U.S. Office of Special 
> Counsel. I filed the disclosure because eliminating my role coordinating federal engagement and leaving my former 
> position empty exacerbate the already significant threat to the health and the safety of certain Alaska Native 
> communities. I filed the complaint because the Trump administration clearly retaliated against me for raising 
> awareness of this danger. Our country values the safety of our citizens, and federal employees who disclose threats 
> to health and safety are protected from reprisal by the Whistleblower Protection Act and Whistleblower Protection 
> Enhancement Act. 
>
> Removing a civil servant from his area of expertise and putting him in a job where he’s not needed and his experience 
> is not relevant is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars. Much more distressing, though, is what this charade means 
> for American livelihoods. The Alaska Native villages of Kivalina, Shishmaref and Shaktoolik are perilously close to 
> melting into the Arctic Ocean. In a region that is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, the land upon 
> which citizens’ homes and schools stand is newly vulnerable to storms, floods and waves. As permafrost melts and 
> protective sea ice recedes, these Alaska Native villages are one superstorm from being washed away, displacing 
> hundreds of Americans and potentially costing lives. The members of these communities could soon become refugees in 
> their own country.
>
> Alaska’s elected officials know climate change presents a real risk to these communities. Gov. Bill Walker (I) and 
> Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) have been sounding the alarm and scrambling for resources to help these villages. But to 
> stave off a life-threatening situation, Alaska needs the help of a fully engaged federal government. Washington 
> cannot turn its back.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>



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