Acosta falters

As a 25-year veteran of the Florida International University faculty, I was proud when our law school dean, Alex Acosta, was chosen to head the U.S. Department of Labor.

But I was embarrassed by the June 8 OpEd that Acosta wrote in his loyal attempt to support his new boss’ unilateral withdrawal from the Paris Accord, “Dropping out of Paris Accord right thing for U.S. workers.”

The accord was negotiated in the complex matrix of global and national costs and benefits.

Acosta enumerated only the short-term costs to the United States and entirely ignored the benefits, which are far greater. The shallow and specious arguments Acosta presented were unbefitting a man of his intellect or of any respected member of the FIU faculty.

I am astounded at how quickly those of integrity who join the Trump administration compromise their hard-earned reputations.

This story was originally published June 10, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Acosta falters."