UC Berkeley prof spells ‘impeach’ in resignation letter to Trump

UC Berkeley professor Daniel M. Kammen resigned as a U.S. State Department Science Envoy in response to President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, his Charlottesville remarks and a Tuesday speech in Phoenix. less UC Berkeley professor Daniel M. Kammen resigned as a U.S. State Department Science Envoy in response to President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, his Charlottesville remarks and a Tuesday ... more Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close UC Berkeley prof spells ‘impeach’ in resignation letter to Trump 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A UC Berkeley energy professor resigned from his science envoy position with the Trump administration Wednesday, citing the president’s “hate-filled rally” in Phoenix the night before, his recent remarks on violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

Professor Daniel Kammen used the first letter in each of the seven paragraphs in his resignation letter to Trump to spell out I-M-P-E-A-C-H.

Kammen said he was inspired by last week’s resignation letter from members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, which spelled the word R-E-S-I-S-T.

“You don’t do that kind of thing by accident,” Kammen said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s a reflection of my dissatisfaction with the job he’s doing.”

Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet. pic.twitter.com/eWzDc5Yw6t — Daniel M Kammen (@dan_kammen) August 23, 2017

Kammen, appointed as one of five U.S. science envoys by the State Department, made his resignation letter public and tweeted, “Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet.”

He said the president’s remarks in Arizona on Tuesday night cemented his decision to resign. At a rally in Phoenix, Trump repeated his pledge to build a wall on the Mexico border and said he may terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump also hinted he would pardon Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who was convicted of defying a 2011 court order to stop traffic patrols that singled out immigrants.

“What I would be working for is inconsistent with the values the president is putting forward,” Kammen told The Chronicle. “I would love to jump right back into this role if there was a U.S. administration supporting a positive presence both at home and overseas.”

The State Department declined to comment on Kammen’s hidden message. In a statement, the department said officials “appreciate his dedicated service to U.S. scientific diplomacy.”

Trump was roundly criticized for his response to the violence in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, when a suspected neo-Nazi drove his car into a crowd protesting white supremacists who were rallying against the possible removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. One woman died and 19 people were injured.

Trump said that “we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence,” but came under fire for adding that there was blame on “many sides” and saying there were “fine people” among the white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

In his open letter to Trump, Kammen wrote that his decision to resign “is in response to your attacks on core values of the United States.”

“Particularly troubling to me is how your response to Charlottesville is consistent with a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism, and disregards the welfare of all Americans, the global community, and the planet,” Kammen wrote. “Examples of this destructive pattern have consequences on my duties as science envoy. Your decision to abdicate the leadership opportunities and the job creation benefits of the Paris Climate Accord, and to undermine energy and environmental research are not acceptable to me.”

Kammen had focused on energy and climate in Africa and the Middle East as a science envoy, a largely honorific position facilitated with the resources and platform of the State Department. Stationed in Berkeley, he worked closely with U.S. ambassadors in Morocco, Kenya and Jordan to enable scientific exchange on environmental research.

He was appointed to the post in 2016 under the Obama administration. He said he has worked for 25 years in Africa, and will continue to do so as a private citizen.

“It just was not possible to work with this administration,” Kammen said. “This is not a political climate that is raising up the U.S. partnerships overseas, and so it’s time to step down.”

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno