Aurelia Skipwith

A woman who helped reverse a rule against bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides and GMO crops on national wildlife refuges has been chosen to oversee the protection (or some say destruction) of national wildlife refuges.

In what environmental groups are calling a cruel joke, the Trump administration's has chosen a former agro-chemical executive to head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.

Aurelia Skipwith worked as a corporate affairs executive at Monsanto for six years before spending the last year and a half in the U.S. Department of the Interior, where she oversaw the dismantling of dozens of wildlife protections, including:
  • The discontinuation of studies assessing the impact of pesticides on endangered species
  • The reversal of a decision prohibiting bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides and genetically modified crops on national wildlife refuges.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Skipwith's duties will include enforcing federal wildlife laws, protecting endangered species, managing migratory birds, and conserving and restoring wildlife habitat.

It should also be noted - since one of her main duties would be to protect fish - that agro-chemical companies like Monsanto are largely to blame for the "dead zones" of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, where runoff from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has contributed to making entire coastlines uninhabitable by fish.

The pick continues a Trump Administration trend of filling top environmental positions with members of the industries the agencies are intended to regulate, notes the Organic Consumers Association.

It also continues a trend of government, in general, to put the fox in charge of guarding the hen house.

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