Weekend Reader, Sunday March 18

Weekend Reader, Sunday March 18

Rex Tillerson's Greatest Hits, Volume One: The oil boss before, and during, his brief tenure in government.

If you read Steve Coll's 2012 book Private Empire, you might come away with the impression that Rex Tillerson was a more effective diplomat as ExxonMobil CEO than he was as Secretary of State.


Coll makes a convincing case that Exxon functions as a sovereign nation, using its economic and political clout to get its way, particularly in oil-bearing developing nations. The book covers most of Tillerson's decade-long reign at Exxon, as well as that of his predecessor, Lee "Iron Ass" Raymond.

Tillerson's corporate grandeur – his last known compensation package was $27 million a year, with access to nearly a quarter billion in Exxon stock – shrank to a $187,000 government salary, with benefits including being humiliated by the Commander-in-Chief.

In early October, President Trump used his favorite diplomatic pouch – Twitter – to tell Tillerson to "not waste his time" with diplomacy toward North Korea. Ouch.

Soon after, Tillerson reportedly called his boss a "f*cking moron." When questioned about the alleged statement, he didn't confirm or deny. Trump responded in an interview with Forbes, challenging his Secretary of State to an IQ test.

In his Exxon career, Tillerson issued lukewarm acknowledgements of the human influence on climate change even while ExxonMobil funded candidates, advocacy groups, and at least one scientist working to deny climate impacts. The Los Angeles Times and Inside Climate News published investigations revealing that Exxon knew of the dangers of climate change for decades. The Climate Investigations Center released documents linking scientist Willie Soon's funding from Southern Company and ExxonMobil to Soon's scientific papers with cooked-to-order conclusions.

Both before and after his rise to CEO, Tillerson traveled the petro-world to cut deals with many of the 200 nations where Exxon does business. He developed particularly strong ties with Russia, and built partnerships between ExxonMobil and Rosneft, a state-owned oil company. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Tillerson the Russian Order of Friendship.

Tillerson's Exxon maintained its status as a prime environmental villain, even as it embraced a couple of pro-environment positions. Since 2007, the oil giant has also voiced at least tepid support of a carbon tax.

In 2012, Tillerson endorsed the Law of the Sea Treaty, which would offer some protection against a free-for-all in fisheries or seabed mining. In 2014, the CEO of America's largest natural gas producer joined his affluent neighbors in a lawsuit to halt construction of a water tower intended to serve fracking operations near the affluent enclave of Bartonville, Texas. The 180-foot tower would have been within sight of Tillerson's 83-acre horse farm.

The apparent hypocrisy of a fracking baron practicing NIMHBY (Not In My Horses' Back Yard) led to a media uproar. Tillerson withdrew from the suit two months later following the wave of bad press. The remaining plaintiffs, led by neighbor Dick Armey, the former House Majority Leader, won. The tower was ordered dismantled.

In his brief government career, Tillerson pushed back against Trump's disdain for the Paris Climate Accord. Compared to his counterparts at Interior and EPA, Rex-T's footprint on global environmental issues was modest—perhaps because dozens of key State Department posts went unfilled, including the two top environment-related sub-Cabinet positions.

As he left the State Department, Tillerson skipped the pro forma thank you to President Trump. Not that he needs the money, but the publisher's advance for a tell-all book on his year in Washington would be immense. I'd put it on my shelf next to Private Empire.

Top Weekend News

A little promising news via the New York Times: China's four-year struggle against pollution seems to be gaining some ground. And from Reuters, China's environment minister promises a greater crackdown on air pollution.

Sign of the times, or greenwash? Norwegian oil giant Statoil is taking "oil" out of its name. But they're not exiting the oil and gas business. (Reuters)

Make Mexico Pay for It: Untreated sewage is turning up in a Mexican border town, just across from a U.S. border town's treatment plant. (The Revelator)

Something else that's bigger in Texas: More first-rate reporting from the Texas Observer and Naveena Sadasivam on the dismal record of the state of Texas in enforcing water pollution laws.

Opinions and Editorials

On the PBS website, economist Robert Stavins argues that Rex Tillerson's dismissal is bad news for US climate policy.

A survey by George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication reveals obstacles for journalists in reporting local climate change impacts. (Media Matters for America)

Beyond the Headlines: A new milestone for electric vehicles in Japan, the country of Belize declaring 10 percent of their ocean a marine protected area, and look back on the infamous oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, eventually sold for scrap.

From New York State, the Poughkeepsie Journal urges the state legislature to get its act together on environment.

This Week in Trump

Scott Pruitt's ambition is rumored to have him angling for the Attorney General job. This New York Times piece broadens that ambition to a shot at the Presidency.

Scott Pruitt's plans to de-emphasize science in the EPA's policy decisions. From E&E.

Interior Secretary Zinke stepped in it this week, fumbling an inappropriate response in Japanese during a hearing on World War II internment camp history.

RIP to a Congressional Warrior on Antibiotics

Rep Louise Slaughter died Friday at age 88. This 2015 profile by Julia Belluz in Vox details her relentless effort to combat abuse of antibiotics in agriculture, and the huge commercial forces that opposed her.

republican climate change denial
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. (Credit: Gage Skidmore)

Opinion: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s climate change playbook — deny the science, take the funding

The two-faced charade of climate denial while diving into the pot of federal renewable incentives and tax breaks.

It took no time for Mike Johnson to establish a hefty carbon footprint as new Speaker of the House.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

'Massive' federal solar investment could mean big utility savings in Kentucky

Advocates see an Inflation Reduction Act program as a critical opportunity to help low-income communities reap the benefits of solar power.
system change not climate change sign
Photo by Ma Ti on Unsplash

The best climate change charities for 2023 and 2024

These are 11 of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations. You may not have heard of them.

washington dc
Image by 12019 from Pixabay

Meet Pelosi the climate czar. (Not that Pelosi.)

Alexis Pelosi is a climate adviser to the Housing and Urban Development secretary and a relative of the former speaker.

Scientists are pining to save the endangered whitebark tree

The balance of an ecosystem hangs on the survival of a scraggly mountain tree. In northwest B.C., ecologists are facing climate change, droughts and wildfires as they work to protect whitebark pine and the species that rely on it.

root vegetables
Photo by Eka Sariwati on Unsplash

Decolonize your diet with this Indigenous cook's new book

Karuk writer and home cook Sara Calvosa Olson has assembled a collection of recipes made with acorns and other Indigenous ingredients to help readers reconnect to the natural world.

When sea levels rise, so does your rent

As property investors turn their gaze inland, away from Miami's exclusive low-lying beach area, residents in one poorer neighbourhood further above sea level say rising rents are forcing them out.

From our Newsroom
childrens health climate change

Delays in joining the RGGI regional climate program means excess ER visits and child illness in Pennsylvania

Up to 128 premature deaths from air pollution could have been prevented if the state had entered the program in 2022 as planned.

environmental justice

LISTEN: Carlos Gould on wildfire smoke and our health

“Information matters a lot — trying to explain not just that there’s a problem, but how to do something about it.”

fracking PFAS

“Forever chemicals” in Pennsylvania fracking wells could impact health of surrounding communities: Report

More than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which potentially include PFAS.

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

Poor recordkeeping on hazardous waste disposal points to potential for bigger problems, according to a new study.

drought climate farming

Opinion: Climate change and soil loss — the new Dust Bowl?

How we can save our soil, stabilize the climate, and prevent a new Dust Bowl.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.