“As an employee, one should always speak up if their organization has some practices that harm the environment. Illegal logging, planting genetically modified crops in a wildlife refuge or dumping chemicals in waterways that can poison living things and disrupt the ecosystem – these are all very harmful and thoughtless acts that destroy the planet little by little, and may be done by public agencies. Public employees that blow the whistle on these unethical practices do exist within the organization, but are often penalized and persecuted for doing the right thing. In this episode, we talk with Jeff Ruch from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) about protecting these employees from the repercussions of such cases.
Protecting those who do the right thing for Mother Earth
There are plenty of public agencies out there that control a huge swath of land and are intrinsically connected to where they operate. Wildlife reserves, animal sanctuaries and research institutes are among some of them. Unfortunately, some of these organizations have practices that harm the environment. Ruch argues that public employees that blow the whistle on these organizations need not be penalized for doing the right thing by alerting environmental watchdogs and government institutions; oftentimes, these individuals are fired and sued for trying to do right by the environment. These outstanding people deserve all the protection they can get, legal or otherwise, something which PEER has been doing for years.
Listen to the whole interview to find out how you can help protect these public employees doing the right thing. The fight to keep the Earth healthy is no walk in the park, and protecting the champions that advocate this cause requires all the help it can get.”