No offense to Sweet Meteor O’ Death, but the impact of Donald Trump’s Election Day victory was a seismic event like no other and is still being felt four months later, and the ripples are splashing cold water in places we didn’t even know existed. One thing’s certain: a lot of people who were enjoying a warm, cozy life in the federal bureaucracy don’t like the neighborhood anymore.
There’s no easy way to say this, so we’ll just blurt it out: the founder of the EPA’s environmental justice office has quit after decades of doing whatever it was he did.
EPA’s environmental justice head resigns https://t.co/WJRZt240mJ pic.twitter.com/BQPjCm2O3G
— The Hill (@thehill) March 9, 2017
One of the most important figures in environmental justice just quit Trump’s EPA https://t.co/i6sBVclaV9 pic.twitter.com/shpQEe5m0x
— grist (@grist) March 9, 2017
Chief Environmental Justice official at EPA resigns after 24 yrs as new admin. eyes deep cuts in EJ programs. https://t.co/WGSkuXMTZb pic.twitter.com/ZbJvquCVl0
— Phil McKenna (@mckennapr) March 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/rebleber/status/839930859096522752
The founder of EPA's environmental justice office quit yesterday after 24 years at the agency. Here's his resignation letter. pic.twitter.com/KafcOwcc7Q
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) March 9, 2017
Yes, that’s a three-page resignation letter, but there’s no need to squint. Here are the highlights:
Trump's EPA budget reportedly includes zeroing out EPA's enviro justice office. Mustafa told me this week he saw "the writing on the walls."
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) March 9, 2017
This is what Mustafa Ali, founder of EPA's environmental justice office, told me when I asked him why he was quitting after 24 years at EPA. pic.twitter.com/djakVr8h2h
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) March 9, 2017
Losing your job sucks; we’re pretty certain more than a few readers who work in the private sector have been through it. But then again, Ali is resigning, apparently on the assumption that his position is going to be eliminated.
"Communities of color, low-income communities & indeginous communities are still struggling to receive equal protection before the law" https://t.co/OdpbrW73EX
— Fearless (@WhoaWoman) March 9, 2017
Does that include communities like Flint, Michigan? Because Ali’s tenure easily overlaps the timeline of that city’s water crisis, and now the EPA is facing a $722 million class action lawsuit filed by 1,700 people who blame the agency for doing nothing about contaminated drinking water.
The Sierra Club is devastated; those ripples just keep on spreading.
Sierra Club statement in response to Mustafa Ali's departure: "We are devastated to lose such a dedicated public servant" pic.twitter.com/ecaMIg2XWB
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) March 9, 2017
Would anyone else like to say a few words?
The position of "Environmental Justice Leader" shouldn't exist in government. https://t.co/bseDX7zdAZ
— RBe (@RBPundit) March 9, 2017
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Related:
'Will the kids save the world?': Children join climate justice lawsuit against administration https://t.co/AemYAtD5xS
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 18, 2015
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