Rex Tillerson prior to his being offered the post of Secretary of State was CEO of Exxon Mobil since 2006 and employed by Exxon since 1975. He has strong business and personal ties to Russia and a clear commitment to fossil fuels.
If you agree that Tillerson is not an appropriate person for the post of Secretary of State, please contact your senators.
“Rex Tillerson asserted that fossil fuels represented the only resource capable of meeting growing global energy demands and remained committed to petroleum production. In 2008 Exxon Mobil revealed its plan to exit the low-profit-margin retail gasoline business, and within just a few weeks Tillerson announced that the company had broken its own income record. In 2011 he helped broker a deal that allowed Exxon Mobil to explore for oil in the section of the Arctic Ocean that was controlled by Russia. However, the agreement was placed on hold in 2014 when the United States placed sanctions on Russia following the latter’s annexation of Crimea.” Emphasis is mine. www.britannica.com/biography/Rex-W-Tillerson
Putin and Tillerson, this is not just a casual one-time photo op. They are friends with some shared goals.
Tillerson (and Exxon’s) position on climate change is slippery. While there have been words acknowledging the science behind climate change (unlike the president’s and others in his proposed cabinet), the actions demonstrate a different reality. “While Mr. Tillerson’s Exxon has stopped funding several groups that loudly denied climate science, it still funds organizations that pursue a broader agenda of fighting measures to address climate change, including carbon taxes. Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard historian, said the positions held by the company and Mr. Tillerson still constitute climate denial, but in a ‘clever and sophisticated’ form. ‘It is, in my view, what makes it more concerning,’ she said, ‘because many people don’t scratch the surface to see what lies beneath.’” www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/business/energy-environment/rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state-exxon.html?_r=0
The same article cited above quotes Marc Morano, a dedicated climate-change denier and publisher of the site Climate Depot “[Morano] said that at first he had reservations, but that he was now confident Mr. Tillerson would act in accord with Mr. Trump’s stated views on climate change. ‘A deeper examination of Tillerson reveals a man who is not going to be a friend of the climate-change movement,’ Morano stated.”
I recommend the entire article. It is our job to scratch the surface and let our politicians know ASAP. Government is not a business, especially a fossil fuel business!
At an annual meeting with analysts in 2014, Tillerson said, “By the year 2040, the world’s population is likely to increase by about 2 billion people, with also projected economic output will be up about 130 percent versus the year 2010. And current with these changes ExxonMobil’s 2014 outlook for energy shows that global energy demand is likely to grow by about 35 percent. . . . We do anticipate a gradual shift in the global energy mix. Oil demand will remain most prominent with about two thirds of its increase driven by expanding transportation needs. The use of natural gas will rise by about 65 percent and it will become the second most widely used source of energy, surpassing coal.” http://www.ibtimes.com/ten-quotes-exxon-mobil-ceo-rex-tillerson-analysts-annual-meeting-1559856