Washington, D.C. – In response to the beginning of Rex Tillerson’s Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State, LCV President Gene Karpinski issued the following statement:

“Rex Tillerson and Exxon Mobil are one and the same, a Big Polluter with no business being Secretary of State. After building his entire career at Exxon, the conflicts of interests he would bring to this role are unprecedented. Not only would he have the ability to approve a future Keystone XL permit, he has disturbingly close ties to Putin’s Russia, where Exxon has made millions in oil deals while opposing US sanctions. Tillerson’s Exxon has also aggressively pursued dizzying profits while putting the health of our families at risk. Not only that, but while under his leadership, investigative reports revealed that Exxon knew about the realities of climate change back in the 1970’s, yet covered up their own research and misled the public.

“We urge Senators to reject Tillerson’s nomination and fight what is shaping up to be Trump’s rigged cabinet of corporate cronies – and the most anti-environmental in our nation’s history.”

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