Interior Department Whistleblower Resigns, Blasts Zinke, Trump

Joel Clement, a former Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Interior, resigned yesterday to protest the incompetent management, retaliation against whistleblowers and antediluvian policies of extraction industry hack and frequent private jet flyer Secretary Ryan "Stinky" Zinke and loathsome moron (h/t Rexxon Tillerson) Donald "Rump" Trump.  His resignation letter reamed Stinky up one side and down the other.  Here are some choice excerpts; you can read the full text here (h/t P.E.C.):

Under Clement's heading "Poor Leadership":

I blew the whistle on the Trump administration because I believe you unlawfully retaliated against me for disclosing the perilous impacts of climate change upon Alaska Native communities and for working to help get them out of harm’s way. The investigations into my whistleblower complaints are ongoing and I hope to prevail.

Retaliating against civil servants for raising health and safety concerns is unlawful, but there are many more items to add to your resume of failure: You and President Trump have waged an allout assault on the civil service by muzzling scientists and policy experts like myself...

Under his heading "Waste of Taxpayer Dollars":

... I choose to save them the trouble, save taxpayer dollars, and honor the organization by stepping away to find a role more suited to my skills. Secretary Zinke, you and your fellow high-flying Cabinet officials have demonstrated over and over that you are willing to waste taxpayer dollars, but I’m not.

Under his heading "Climate Change Is Real And It's Dangerous":

... If the Trump administration continues to try to silence experts in science, health and other fields, many more Americans, and the natural ecosystems upon which they depend, will be put at risk. [snip]

Secretary Zinke: It is well known that you, Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, and President Trump are shackled to special interests such as oil, gas, and mining. You are unwilling to lead on climate change, and cannot be trusted with our nation’s natural resources.

He concludes:

I will continue to be an outspoken advocate for action, and my voice will be part of the American chorus calling for your resignation so that someone loyal to the interests of all Americans, not just special interests, can take your job.


Sadly, we desperately need people like Mr. Clement in government at all levels. Perhaps he can, as he says, continue to be an outspoken advocate for sane policies governing our natural resources on the outside -- something that, if we had the government we voted for, would be accomplished on the inside.