people living near mountaintop removal coal mines after rescinding a rule that would have protected their health. You have disrespected the career staff of the Department by questioning their loyalty and you have played fast and loose with government regulations to score points with your political base at the expense of American health and safety. Secretary Zinke, your agenda profoundly undermines the DOI mission and betrays the American people. Waste of Taxpayer Dollars. My background is in science, policy, and climate change. You reassigned me to the Office of Natural Resources R evenue. My new colleagues were as surprised as I was by the involuntary reassignment to a job title with no duties in an office that specializes in auditing and dispersing fossil fuel royalty income. The y acted in good faith to find a role for me, and I deeply appr eciate their efforts. In the end, however, reassigning and training me as an auditor when I have no background in that field will involve an exorbitant amount of time and effort on the part of my colleagues, incu r significant taxpayer expense, and create a situation in which these talented specialists are being led b y someone without experience in their field. I choose to save them the trouble, save taxpayer dollars, and honor the organization by stepping away to find a role more suited to my skills. Secretary Zinke, you and your fellow high-flying Cabinet officials have demonstrated over and ov er that you are willing to waste tax payer dollars, but I’m not. Climate Change Is Real and It’s Dangerous. I have highlighted the Alaska Native co mmunities on the brink in the Arctic, but many other Americans are facing climate impacts head -on. Families in the path of devastating hurricanes, businesses in coastal communities experiencing frequent and severe flooding, fishermen pulling up empty nets due to warming seas, med ical professionals working to understand new disease vectors, farming communities hit by f loods of biblical proportions, and owners of forestlands laid waste by invasive inse cts. These are just a few of the impacts Americans face. If the Trump administration continues to try to silence experts in science, health and o ther fields, many more Americans, and the n atural ecosystems upon which they depend, will be put at risk. The solutions and adaptations to these impacts will be complex, but ex ponentially less difficult and expensive than waiting until traged y strikes – as we have seen with Houston, Florida, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico – and there is no time to waste. We must act quickly to limit climate change while also preparing for its impacts. Secretary Zinke: It is well known that you, Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, and President Trump are shackled to special interests such as o il, gas, and mining. You are unwilling to lead on climate change, and cannot be trusted with our nation’s natural resources. So for those three compelling reasons – po or leadership, waste, and your failures on climate change, I tender my resignation. The best use of my skills is to join with the majority of Americans who understand what’s at stake, working to find ways to innovate and thrive despite