Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
How a climate skeptic marginalized for years at Interior rose to prominence under Trump
This is the guy I referred to in a thread over in LBN earlier this week:
Climate skeptic oversaw sprawling review of agency policy
Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold
How a climate skeptic marginalized for years at Interior rose to prominence under Trump
Link to tweet
Energy and Environment
How a climate skeptic marginalized for years at Interior rose to prominence under Trump
By Juliet Eilperin and Dino Grandoni March 9 at 2:27 PM
eilperinj@washpost.com; dino.grandoni@washpost.com
Just 10 days after President Trump took office last year, an Interior Department official suggested a swift change to its website in preparation for Trump’s choice to lead the department, Ryan Zinke.
While Zinke wouldn’t be sworn in for weeks, Office of Policy Analysis senior adviser Indur Goklany emailed Doug Domenech — a Trump appointee who would go to become Interior’s assistant secretary of insular areas — telling him they would “be doing the new Secretary a favor if … the current ‘Our Priorities’ page visible on the DOI home page were removed before he is confirmed.”
Unlike Domenech and some of the other Interior officials who were taking a fresh look at the department’s policies and messaging, Goklany wasn’t a new arrival. He had been working at Interior since Ronald Reagan was president, and had spent years questioning whether climate change would damage the planet as much as some of his colleagues predicted.
Goklany, who often goes by the nickname “Goks,” has written papers for several conservative think tanks as well as participated in their events and films while working at the Office of Policy Analysis for more than 30 years. Weeks after Trump’s inauguration, he found himself within the inner circle of Interior’s leadership. He weighed in on climate change discussions, attended meetings with some of Zinke’s senior aides and began working in the office of the deputy secretary.
....
Others with knowledge of the agency — including Joel Clement, who headed the Office of Policy Analysis from January 2011 until July 2017 — said in an email that he fails to understand why the new leadership at Interior would be relying on someone with a background in electrical engineering to help guide climate policy. ... “A climate change denier is someone who rejects the multiple lines of corroborating scientific evidence that show that rapid change is real, it’s caused by human activities, and it’s extremely dangerous,” Clement said. “For an electrical engineer to suggest that climate change is good for society and is just dandy, there are lots of nonexperts with opinions; the bizarre thing is that sitting political appointees in the Department of the Interior would seek out his advice.”
....
Juliet Eilperin is The Washington Post's senior national affairs correspondent, covering how the new administration is transforming a range of U.S. policies and the federal government itself. She is the author of two books — one on sharks and another on Congress, not to be confused with each other — and has worked for The Post since 1998. Follow @eilperin
Dino Grandoni is an energy and environmental policy reporter and the author of PowerPost's daily tipsheet on the beat, The Energy 202. Follow @dino_grandoni
How a climate skeptic marginalized for years at Interior rose to prominence under Trump
By Juliet Eilperin and Dino Grandoni March 9 at 2:27 PM
eilperinj@washpost.com; dino.grandoni@washpost.com
Just 10 days after President Trump took office last year, an Interior Department official suggested a swift change to its website in preparation for Trump’s choice to lead the department, Ryan Zinke.
While Zinke wouldn’t be sworn in for weeks, Office of Policy Analysis senior adviser Indur Goklany emailed Doug Domenech — a Trump appointee who would go to become Interior’s assistant secretary of insular areas — telling him they would “be doing the new Secretary a favor if … the current ‘Our Priorities’ page visible on the DOI home page were removed before he is confirmed.”
Unlike Domenech and some of the other Interior officials who were taking a fresh look at the department’s policies and messaging, Goklany wasn’t a new arrival. He had been working at Interior since Ronald Reagan was president, and had spent years questioning whether climate change would damage the planet as much as some of his colleagues predicted.
Goklany, who often goes by the nickname “Goks,” has written papers for several conservative think tanks as well as participated in their events and films while working at the Office of Policy Analysis for more than 30 years. Weeks after Trump’s inauguration, he found himself within the inner circle of Interior’s leadership. He weighed in on climate change discussions, attended meetings with some of Zinke’s senior aides and began working in the office of the deputy secretary.
....
Others with knowledge of the agency — including Joel Clement, who headed the Office of Policy Analysis from January 2011 until July 2017 — said in an email that he fails to understand why the new leadership at Interior would be relying on someone with a background in electrical engineering to help guide climate policy. ... “A climate change denier is someone who rejects the multiple lines of corroborating scientific evidence that show that rapid change is real, it’s caused by human activities, and it’s extremely dangerous,” Clement said. “For an electrical engineer to suggest that climate change is good for society and is just dandy, there are lots of nonexperts with opinions; the bizarre thing is that sitting political appointees in the Department of the Interior would seek out his advice.”
....
Juliet Eilperin is The Washington Post's senior national affairs correspondent, covering how the new administration is transforming a range of U.S. policies and the federal government itself. She is the author of two books — one on sharks and another on Congress, not to be confused with each other — and has worked for The Post since 1998. Follow @eilperin
Dino Grandoni is an energy and environmental policy reporter and the author of PowerPost's daily tipsheet on the beat, The Energy 202. Follow @dino_grandoni
Indur M. Goklany
....
Key Deeds
March 8, 2018
According to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and reported on at E&E News, Goklany was directly involved with rewriting the Interior Department's public positions on climate change during the early days of the Trump administration. Goklany initially volunteered to rewrite webpages and policies shortly after the presidential inauguration and was officially charged with the task in May 2017. [33]
“I actually think that removing the Priorities page [on the DOI website] is better and more efficient than just modifying certain pages because climate change is not the only questionable priority on the current Priorities,” Goklany (signing off as “Goks”) wrote in an email to Doug Domenech, then-head of the Interior Department transition team. [34]
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309192346/
The email was released as part of a 1,284-page disclosure prompted by a FOIA request. Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason tasked Goklany with “reviewing and providing feedback on various documents and reports, including DOI and non-DOI reports, departmental manual chapters, and the information contained on websites,” including the agency's climate change policies, according to a September 18, 2018 document. [35]
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309193000/
Documents revealed that Cason and Goklany corresponded directly on a paper to be released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309193411/
“Just an advance notice that we might not be able to get the paper to you by the end of the day,” Goklany wrote to Cason in a May 19, 2017 email exchange. “I was supposed to get a new version from them yesterday, but haven't received it yet. Unless they incorporate all my comments, there may be some additional discussion that may entail a delay.” [36]
In a June 9 email, Goklany gave Cason and Domenech an updated draft mission statement and action list with new prioriteis excluding climate change. Goklany replaced “climate change” with “infrastructure maintenance.”
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309193845/
“With respect to existing webpages referring to climate change, the draft proposes to recall/revoke all of them unless the web pages relate to scientific investigations undertaken by or at the office that maintains the web page(s) and it is clear to the reader what precisely is meant by the term 'climate change' and context is provided with respect to climate history, its importance relative to other factors affecting resources etc.” Goklany wrote.
Goklany also wrote to Domenech on scientific matters. In a August 14, 2017 email, Goklany forwarded a New York Times article on the threat of sea level rise to Guam, countering that “Tide gauge data, however, doesn't show any acceleration in sea level rise due to man-made global warming or whatever.” [37]
....
Key Deeds
March 8, 2018
According to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and reported on at E&E News, Goklany was directly involved with rewriting the Interior Department's public positions on climate change during the early days of the Trump administration. Goklany initially volunteered to rewrite webpages and policies shortly after the presidential inauguration and was officially charged with the task in May 2017. [33]
“I actually think that removing the Priorities page [on the DOI website] is better and more efficient than just modifying certain pages because climate change is not the only questionable priority on the current Priorities,” Goklany (signing off as “Goks”) wrote in an email to Doug Domenech, then-head of the Interior Department transition team. [34]
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309192346/
The email was released as part of a 1,284-page disclosure prompted by a FOIA request. Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason tasked Goklany with “reviewing and providing feedback on various documents and reports, including DOI and non-DOI reports, departmental manual chapters, and the information contained on websites,” including the agency's climate change policies, according to a September 18, 2018 document. [35]
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309193000/
Documents revealed that Cason and Goklany corresponded directly on a paper to be released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309193411/
“Just an advance notice that we might not be able to get the paper to you by the end of the day,” Goklany wrote to Cason in a May 19, 2017 email exchange. “I was supposed to get a new version from them yesterday, but haven't received it yet. Unless they incorporate all my comments, there may be some additional discussion that may entail a delay.” [36]
In a June 9 email, Goklany gave Cason and Domenech an updated draft mission statement and action list with new prioriteis excluding climate change. Goklany replaced “climate change” with “infrastructure maintenance.”
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309193845/
“With respect to existing webpages referring to climate change, the draft proposes to recall/revoke all of them unless the web pages relate to scientific investigations undertaken by or at the office that maintains the web page(s) and it is clear to the reader what precisely is meant by the term 'climate change' and context is provided with respect to climate history, its importance relative to other factors affecting resources etc.” Goklany wrote.
Goklany also wrote to Domenech on scientific matters. In a August 14, 2017 email, Goklany forwarded a New York Times article on the threat of sea level rise to Guam, countering that “Tide gauge data, however, doesn't show any acceleration in sea level rise due to man-made global warming or whatever.” [37]
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
