The US Environmental Protection Agency has ordered two of its attorneys to remove a video they posted on YouTube about problems with climate change legislation backed by the Obama administration or face disciplinary action, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA is abusing ethics rules to gag two conscientious employees who have every right to speak out as citizens, stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, who has re-posted the original video and its script (see Details).
(For a very different case, in which EPA censorship of scientific communication about climate change was falsely alleged, see our three-part July 14 post: Denialist attack on EPA handling of Carlin global warming contrarian document Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.)
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is a national non-profit alliance of local, state and federal scientists, law enforcement officers, land managers and other professionals dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values.
Re-posting a November 9 news release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility:
EPA ORDERS EMPLOYEES TO REMOVE YOUTUBE CLIMATE VIDEO
Agency Threatens Discipline for Off-Duty Warnings on Cap & Trade Failures
For Immediate Release: November 9, 2009
Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337
Washington, DC The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered two of its attorneys to remove a video they posted on YouTube about problems with climate change legislation backed by the Obama administration or face disciplinary action, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The couple had received clearance for posting the video but EPA took issue with its content following publication of an op-ed piece by the two in The Washington Post on October 31.
The video, entitled The Huge Mistake, is by Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel, two EPA enforcement attorneys speaking as private citizens. The video explains why the cap & trade plan endorsed by President Obama will not accomplish its goals, let alone effectively curb climate change. On November 5, 2009, EPA ethics officials ordered the two veteran employees to
Remove your climate change video from You Tube by the close of business on Friday, November 6, 2009;
Edit your You Tube video by:
(i) Removing the language starting at 1:06 min Our opinions are based on more than 20 years each working as attorneys at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the San Francisco Regional Office.
(ii) Removing the images of EPAs building starting at 1:06 min
(v) Remove [sic] the language starting at 6:30 min In my work at EPA, Ive been overseeing Californias cap-and-trade and offset programs for more than 20 years.All future requests for approval of an outside writing activity must be accompanied by a draft of the document that is the subject of the approval request
EPA is abusing ethics rules to gag two conscientious employees who have every right to speak out as citizens, stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, who has re-posted the original video and its script. EPA reversed itself because someone in headquarters had a tantrum about their Washington Post essay.
Williams and Zabel, who are married to each other, go to great lengths in the video and other writings to provide disclaimers affirming that their views are personal and do not represent the agency. However, EPA now objects to them even referring to their on-the-job experience as the basis for their views.
How is government supposed to be transparent when public servants are forbidden from discussing the nature of their work? asked Ruch. EPA and every other federal agency should have simple, clear guidelines so that government workers can express themselves freely without political prior restraints.
In August, EPA Administrator Jackson issued an all-employee statement saying the agency will operate as if in a fishbowl but left ambiguous whether and how employees may publish papers or communicate with Congress and the media. By contrast, a few agencies such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have dispensed with any pre-approval of employees unofficial expressions, as long as they are accompanied by a short disclaimer.
The EPA directive to remove the video
Williams and Zabel Washington Post op-ed
More on Williams and Zabel critique of cap and trade (and here)
EPA’s semi-transparency under Obama
Compare the Fish & Wildlife Service right to publish
PEER Website copyright peer.org