Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report Article, “Trump ‘Gag Order’ Reports Make for Awkward First Impression,” Features Comments From James Aidala

On January 26, 2017, the Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report quoted James V. Aidala, Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs with Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. and The Acta Group (Acta^®), on the Trump administration’s handling of climate change communications.

It’s no surprise that Trump has de-emphasized climate change in his administration, said Jim Aidala, a consultant with Bergeson & Campbell PC in Washington, D.C., and former head of EPA’s chemicals division under President Bill Clinton.

But the new administration may have benefited from a more cautious delivery.

“With new leadership, it’s not so much what you’re doing, but you have to watch how you do it,” Aidala told Bloomberg BNA. “[Career employees] will spread rumors. People will call it a gag order when it was really just a stand down order. Things can be interpreted or misinterpreted. When you say ‘Take it down,’ they hear ‘All of this will be reversed.’ You have to be careful about how you say it, not just what you say.”

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have been guilty of leaving bad first impressions, said Aidala.

“You come in and say ‘We’re going to do things differently because the people here don’t know how to do things,’” he said. “You’ve got to be careful. Your success relies on those people.”

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