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Thursday, October 05, 2017

Interior Dept. official who spoke out on Alaskan climate change, and was reassigned, quits

"An Interior Department executive turned whistleblower who claimed the Trump administration retaliated against him for publicly disclosing how climate change affects Alaska Native communities resigned Wednesday," reports Darryl Fears of The Washington Post.

Scientist and policy expert Joel Clement had been removed from his job by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke shortly after the Alaska climate disclosure "and reassigned to an accounting position for which he has no experience," Fears reports. "Clement was among dozens of senior executive service personnel who were quickly, and perhaps unlawfully, reassigned in June, but he was the only person who spoke out."

The department's inspector general is investigating to determine whether the transfer process was legal. "By law, executives are to be given ample notice of a job switch," Fears notes. "Many of those reassigned say they were given no notice, according to attorneys who are representing some of the employees."

Clement told Fears that Interior employees are outraged by Zinke’s comment in a recent speech that they are disloyal: “I got 30 percent of the crew that’s not loyal to the flag.” Meanwhile, Fears reports, "Former top Interior executives under Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama ripped Zinke for his comments about loyalty at Interior."

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