In his hearing to be confirmed as Secretary of State, Exxon’s Rex Tillerson portrayed himself as a Chief Executive Officer (and Board Chair) who had no idea what the company was doing in several areas, including that of his greatest responsibility: Russia.
In Tillerson’s opening statement, which measured 2,155 words, the Exxon CEO mentioned Russia nine times, China nine times, and human rights six times. But he did not once utter the words “climate change,” “energy,” “oil,” or “ExxonMobil.”
The role of America’s top diplomat is not a light one. In many ways, the weight of the world rests on the US secretary of state’s shoulders. Which is why so many are so concerned about the outside influences that may have their thumbs on the scale with the man nominated to fill the role next: former ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson.
Before he becomes Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson will be deposed by attorneys for Our Children’s Trust. The lawyers want to know what Tillerson — who is currently CEO of ExxonMobil — knew about the effect of carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels and when did he know it.
ExxonMobil has agreed to provide an investment package worth about $180 million to its outgoing chief executive, Rex Tillerson, letting him cash in on benefits that he would have been required to give up in order to serve as President-elect Trump’s top diplomat.
Donald Trump may not understand science and may not care to understand science or any problems it discovers, but he’s proven that he understands how to manipulate people for self benefit.
As I pointed out before the election, Donald Trump’s campaign was so full of irony it could have filled a gold-plated plastic slurpee cup — something Trump may well own. Of course, now that he’s “President-Elect” Donald Trump (with nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton, sprinkling more irony into the cup), the craziness has continued.
As president-elect Donald Trump announced his pick of climate-denier Rick Perry to run the Department of Energy, hundreds gathered in San Francisco outside of the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) annual conference. Their rallying cry was simple: support climate science research and evidence-based climate policy.
An anti-coal message from a member of the National Petroleum Council shows that coal jobs are never coming back, campaign promises or not.
This week, Donald Trump’s transition team has announced it will nominate Exxon Mobil chief executive Rex W. Tillerson to be his Secretary of State, and former-Texas Governor Rick Perry as his Secretary of Energy — a fossil fuel proponent and a climate change denier, to round out an administration seemingly full of such beliefs.
