Releasing this picture got a Department of Energy photographer fired. He doesnt regret it.

[babylonsister]

Releasing this picture got a Department of Energy photographer fired. He doesn’t regret it.
Simon Edelman leaked a photo of coal baron Robert Murray's "action plan."
Mark Hand
Jan 22, 2018, 8:00 am

Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray greet each other at a March 29, 2017 meeting at DOE headquarters in Washington. CREDIT: Simon Edelman



A Department of Energy photographer who was fired after releasing photos he took of a meeting between Energy Secretary Rick Perry and a prominent coal executive wants federal authorities to open a criminal investigation into what he calls “public corruption” between Perry and the industry official.

At the meeting, photographer Simon Edelman said Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray asked Perry for policy changes that would directly benefit his coal company and the executive’s personal financial position. The reason to release the photos “was to show the evidence of corruption that was taking place,” Edelman told ThinkProgress.

On December 6, 2017, In These Times, a left-leaning news magazine, published photos of the March 29, 2017, meeting at DOE’s headquarters in Washington. The photographs show a Murray proposal getting presented to Perry that would alter federal policies to favor coal plants, as a way to increase “grid reliability,” reporter Kate Aronoff wrote in the initial article that contained the photos.

As soon as the photos were published, questions arose about how In These Times obtained them. The mystery was solved when the New York Times published an article last week that explained Edelman, who held the title of chief creative officer at DOE, had provided In These Times, as well as the Washington Post, with copies of the photos.

In an interview, Edelman said he wanted to make the photos available to the public before federal energy regulators voted on an electric grid reliability and resiliency rule that would benefit Murray Energy and other coal companies. The proposal would have provided guaranteed profits to the coal and nuclear industries. As it turned out, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted unanimously on January 8 to reject the plan.

more...

https://thinkprogress.org/energy-department-whistleblower-b1c6606a5c67/

[lagomorph777]

1. Simon Edelman is a hero.

He should be invited to speak at Dem events.

[FM123]

2. We need more Simon Edelmans out there!

[Scurrilous]

3. Pigs at the trough.