Washington, NJ — Amy B. Wang reports in The Washington Post that Daniel Kammen, a renewable energy expert appointed last year as a science envoy to the State Department, resigned August 23, citing President Donald J. Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville as the final straw that led to his departure.
In a resignation letter posted to Twitter, Kammen (@dan_kammen) wrote that Trump's remarks about the racial violence in Virginia had attacked “core values of the United States” and that it would have “domestic and international ramifications.”
The State Department appointed Kammen, an energy professor at the University of California at Berkeley, as one of five U.S. science envoys in February 2016.
At the time, Kammen said he would be working on various global energy initiatives, as well as “the wider Paris Accord.”
In a resignation letter posted to Twitter, Kammen (@dan_kammen) wrote that Trump's remarks about the racial violence in Virginia had attacked “core values of the United States” and that it would have “domestic and international ramifications.”
The State Department appointed Kammen, an energy professor at the University of California at Berkeley, as one of five U.S. science envoys in February 2016.
At the time, Kammen said he would be working on various global energy initiatives, as well as “the wider Paris Accord.”
According to his letter, Kammen has also served in various federal roles since 1996, including at the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kammen, who was appointed during Barack Obama's presidency, said it would be unconscionable for him to continue serving the administration after those remarks.
He said he stood with “the unequivocal and authoritative statements” of a slew of other public officials, both Democratic and Republican.
“Acts and words matter,” Kammen wrote. “To continue in my role under your administration would be inconsistent with the principles of the United States Oath of Allegiance to which I adhere.”
However, his most biting message may have come in the form of a hidden acrostic: The first letter of each paragraph spelled out I-M-P-E-A-C-H.
For Wang’s full Washington Post story, click here.
Kammen, who was appointed during Barack Obama's presidency, said it would be unconscionable for him to continue serving the administration after those remarks.
He said he stood with “the unequivocal and authoritative statements” of a slew of other public officials, both Democratic and Republican.
“Acts and words matter,” Kammen wrote. “To continue in my role under your administration would be inconsistent with the principles of the United States Oath of Allegiance to which I adhere.”
However, his most biting message may have come in the form of a hidden acrostic: The first letter of each paragraph spelled out I-M-P-E-A-C-H.
For Wang’s full Washington Post story, click here.
