LEWISTON, Maine - Last week it was Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency that was widely condemned by environmental groups around the country. Pruitt is a climate-denier who has lobbied on behalf of the oil and gas industry at the agency he would head.
This week environmentalists are sounding the alarm about the nominations of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as energy secretary and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. Both are also climate deniers and champions of the fossil fuel industry.
"Rex Tillerson has spent his career putting the profits of Exxon over the health and well being of Mainers and Americans across the country," says Laura Dorle, the campaigns director for the group Environment Maine, which opposes all three nominations and is urging the U.S. Senate to reject them.
Critics say Tillerson's is the most stunning example yet of how money in politics works. His company has a record of funding propaganda designed to mislead Americans about the science of climate change. And, says Dorle, he has no public service experience.
With Tillerson’s nomination coming one day after the first anniversary of the Paris climate agreement, Dorle says President-elect Trump is signaling that he is headed in the worst possible direction.
