Transition team seeks names of Energy employees

The Trump transition team has issued 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking officials there to identify which employees and contractors have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation’s carbon output.

The questionnaire requests a list of those individuals who have taken part in international climate talks over the past five years and “which programs within DOE are essential to meeting the goals of President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan.”

The questionnaire, which one Energy Department official described as unusually “intrusive” and a matter for departmental lawyers, has raised concern that the Trump transition team was trying to figure out how to target the people, including civil servants, who have helped implement policies under Obama.

The memo provides the clearest indication yet of how Trump’s administration would begin to dismantle specific aspects of Obama’s ambitious climate policies. Thousands of scientists have already signed petitions calling on the president-elect and his team to respect scientific integrity and refrain from singling out researchers whose work might conflict with the new administration’s policy goals.

The questionnaire also appeared to take aim at the national laboratories, which operate with a high degree of independence but are part of the Energy Department. The questionnaire asked for a list of the top 20 salaried employees, the labs’ peer-reviewed publications over the past three years, a list of their professional memberships, and the websites they maintain or contribute to “during work hours.”