He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
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Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#2Paywall.
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#3Paywall.
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#4TLDR: EPA policy does not require microplastic monitoring. Mr. Tyler decides to require it and doesn’t ask his boss. Boss says remove the requirement. Mr. Tyler publicly calls out his boss and gets fired.
So what about any of this is news?
Yes, microplastics are a big concern. But Mr. Tyler doesn’t get to make policy all by himself then accuse his employer for being bent when they say Hold Up.
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#5TLDR: EPA policy does not require microplastic monitoring. Mr. Tyler decides to require it and doesn’t ask his boss. Boss says remove the requirement. Mr. Tyler publicly calls out his boss and gets fired. So what about any of this is news? Yes, microplastics are a big concern. But Mr. Tyler doesn’t get to make policy all by himself then accuse his employer for being bent when they say Hold Up.
That’s a very fascist way of thinking whether you’re aware of it or not
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#6As the old saying goes; "you only get what you can measure".
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#7Mixed bag. I agree the permit probably shouldn't have that requirement, at least not at this time. that's a whole bag of regulation: how much monitoring? what constitutes a micro plastic? what's the baseline for the ocean in the area? who consumes the monitoring data? how do you monitor? are there consequences when it goes too high? what is too high? are all microplastics made equal or do different types of plastics have different effects?
In an honest administration I would figure they would strike the requirement then go forward to answer questions like those to see if there's a need to form regulation around it. And an honest administration could probably bring forth those types of nuances to an informed and level-headed public and be accepted.
We do not have an honest administration, nor an informed or a level-headed public. His firing was likely both retaliatory for making them look bad when the information was released but also "we know this guy's not going to play ball and cause problems for us later. get rid of him"
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#8TLDR: EPA policy does not require microplastic monitoring. Mr. Tyler decides to require it and doesn’t ask his boss. Boss says remove the requirement. Mr. Tyler publicly calls out his boss and gets fired. So what about any of this is news? Yes, microplastics are a big concern. But Mr. Tyler doesn’t get to make policy all by himself then accuse his employer for being bent when they say Hold Up.
That’s a very fascist way of thinking whether you’re aware of it or not
Permit requirements must be consistent for all applicants. I don’t find that fascist.
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#9TLDR: EPA policy does not require microplastic monitoring. Mr. Tyler decides to require it and doesn’t ask his boss. Boss says remove the requirement. Mr. Tyler publicly calls out his boss and gets fired. So what about any of this is news? Yes, microplastics are a big concern. But Mr. Tyler doesn’t get to make policy all by himself then accuse his employer for being bent when they say Hold Up.
That’s a very fascist way of thinking whether you’re aware of it or not
would you mind describing the proposed link between fascism and termination for insubordination?
Re: He Wanted to Track Microplastics in the Sea. The EPA Fired Him
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s a very fascist way of thinking whether you’re aware of it or not
would you mind describing the proposed link between fascism and termination for insubordination?
Fascism pattern-matches an authoritarian relationship between child and parent onto the organizational structure of government organizations.
Insubordination exists on a spectrum - I’m not saying you shouldn’t do what you’re told by your boss in all circumstances, but in an organization of adults, hierarchy is only loosely correlated with “knowing the right thing to do”.
And employee at the environmental protection agency deciding to study microplastics against his “orders” is following the spirit of the larger organization.
Bottoms-up decision making is not inherently problematic. And the only reason you see it as problematic is because you project too much authority onto “authority figures” aka you are viewing your boss as a parent when they’re really closer to coworker assuming your competent enough.
What I’m trying to say is that the whole top-down authority structure we see as normal is actually more abnormal than you think. And organizations would work better if they functioned more as webs, with loose higher level structures to ensure compliance with organizational goals.