Elections have consequences and President-Reject donald trump has nominated ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be our next U.S. Secretary of State.
Picking the CEO of one of the largest and most environmentally destructive fossil fuel corporations in the world to serve as America’s top diplomat is not only unprecedented, it’s irresponsible and dangerous. Tillerson’s nomination cements the fact that clean air, clean water, public lands, and a safe climate are public enemy number one in Trump’s administration.
ExxonMobil — where Tillerson has worked for his entire career over the past 40 years — deliberately concealed its knowledge of climate science while funding denialist groups for decades in order to prevent climate action from hurting their profits. The company was also responsible for the Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the costliest environmental disasters in history, along with countless other spills. Exxon also has a long history of supporting violence and intimidation against local communities facing its global operations. Tillerson’s idea of international diplomacy is finding a new well to drill, whatever it takes, including going against US policy to get the job done. That is not the type of leadership that should be representing the United States around the world.
In case you haven’t noticed, trump’s cabinet and advisers represent a who’s who of climate-deniers and fossil fuel hacks. Rather than “draining the swamp” of corporate influence in Washington (as he pledged during the campaign), trump is finding the worst swamp monsters to corrupt our democracy and scam the American people. Tillerson’s nomination is just one more example of how trump’s administration will put corporate profits and political favors above people and the planet. At a time when the climate crisis is deepening, both the U.S. and the world deserve much better than having one of the planet’s top fossil fuel tycoons lead our foreign policy.
Here are just some of the numerous reasons to oppose trump’s nomination of Tillerson:
- The Secretary of State is supposed to work around the world to do what’s best for the American people, not his gazillion-dollar multinational oil company.
- Tillerson rose through the ranks at Exxon by running the company’s operations in Russia — whose interference (to put it mildly) in our election may well be why Trump won. In 2013, Tillerson was awarded the Kremlin’s official “Order of Friendship” by Vladimir Putin himself.
- Exxon’s own research from the 1970s revealed that fossil fuels contribute to global warming, but the company withheld the truth and actively funded climate denialism instead.
- The Secretary of State is fourth in the presidential line of succession. Do we really want to be even that close to a President Exxon?
- Even key Republicans, including Marco Rubio and John McCain, have expressed serious doubt about Tillerson’s fitness for this critical position.
You know who thinks Tillerson is a good choice (besides trump, of course)? Robert Murray — CEO of the major coal company that sued Public Citizen after they accurately noted its opposition to new worker safety and clean air protections. Murray was just on Fox News bizarrely declaring that “there are no political hacks here in this new administration.”
We must refuse to go silently into the night. It’s time to speak out, organize, and fight back harder than ever. Take action now: send Senator Masto (Catherine won’t have an official contact email until she’s sworn in in January) and Senator Heller a message urging them to stand up for people and the planet by opposing Tillerson’s nomination for Secretary of State. The Senate can block Tillerson’s nomination, but they’ll only do it if millions of people like you demand it. Send your message well in advance of the confirmation hearing!