31 Researchers Dismissed From NREL One Week After SOTU Energy Promises

[hatrack]

The day Carol Tombari got fired plays in her head like a scene from a cheesy espionage thriller. She arrived at work and was told to appear at a mandatory meeting in 20 minutes. It was there that she learned she was being laid off and that she had five hours to pack and vacate the premises. When she returned to her desk, her computer had been disabled, her phone service cut.

She had to cancel an appearance the next day at a regional mayors' caucus. Her presentation on the importance of energy efficiency to local governments was locked in her computer. She was among the disappeared from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, where 31 workers were dismissed seven days after President Bush read the words "addicted to oil" off the teleprompter and announced yet another "Advanced Energy Initiative." "It was a week to the day after the State of the Union," Tombari said. The single mother of three with a son in college was given one month's severance pay.

EDIT

The scientists at NREL "have no peer," U.S. Department of Energy spokesman Craig Stevens crowed last week. They also have no job security.

Tombari's job was to work with state and local governments to incorporate new technologies into public policies. Before she came to NREL in 1993, she directed the Texas Energy Office for 10 years. "I loved my job," she said. "Ideally, if I had the money, I would do what I was doing at NREL for free. Those of us who worked at NREL had a real passion for the technology."

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http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3506521

[rodeodance]

1. "...She was among the disappeared" whow!!

....She was among the disappeared from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, where 31 workers were dismissed seven days after President Bush read the words "addicted to oil" off the teleprompter and announced yet another "Advanced Energy Initiative."

"It was a week to the day after the State of the Union," Tombari said. The single mother of three with a son in college was given one month's severance pay.

"I can understand budget cuts. I can understand realigning the mission at NREL. But being treated like a corporate saboteur, that was rough," said Tombari, who has worked in energy policy for more than 25 years.

John Thornton, an engineer and 28-year veteran at NREL, is another casualty of the post-State of the Union sweep. He was given until March 31 to get out.