Many
critical issues face our nation today, but arguably none with greater
consequence for all future generations than the Climate Crisis. Truly, only
nuclear war could lead to greater irreversible damage. And, while nuclear war
is still a distinct possibility that must be avoided, climate change is a
present reality. It is happening right now, as we write—as you read this—and
unless addressed promptly, is likely to result in passing tipping points that
will condemn our progeny to a devastated environment, more frequent extreme
weather events including super-storms, rising sea levels inundating coastal
regions, huge fires, droughts, massive crop failures, hundreds of millions of
climate refugees, unprecedented extinctions and more.
We
absolutely cannot afford four years of inaction or backtracking on climate.
While
many Trump appointments are troubling, we are most disturbed by his picks for
key administration positions dealing with climate and energy concerns. Peaceworks
urges Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt to do everything in their power
to challenge appointees who are clearly both unqualified and disinclined to
serve as protectors of our environment and climate.(Click on their names to contact them on-line, or click HERE for more contact info.)
These
appointees not only have questionable qualifications in terms of knowledge and
experience. They also have established track records of working to oppose the
work of the agencies they’ve been tapped to lead.
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| Pictured here are Scott Pruitt, Rex Tillerson and Rick Perry. Thanks to Common Dreams for the photo. |
Topping
the list is Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. He’s been tapped to head the
Environmental Protection Agency, an agency he’s opposed at every turn for years.
A climate change skeptic with heavy backing from the fossil fuel industry,
Pruitt took the lead in organizing a legal challenge to the EPA’s Clean Power
Plan.
It’s not just the CPP he’s opposed. Pruitt has sued the EPA over soot and smog pollution rules and over limits on emissions of mercury, arsenic, acid gases, etc. from power plants. He’s a close ally of several fossil fuel companies and was exposed for having submitted to the EPA and other Federal agencies, as his own, letters that were actually written by Devon Energy lobbyists. Pruitt is a strong backer of fracking and nearly half of his PAC funding comes from the energy industry. He has made it clear that he seeks to dismantle the EPA’s programs that address the Climate Crisis. These programs, while not nearly adequate, are today the backbone of the American response to climate change. Dismantling them would put the entire Paris Climate Accord in jeopardy.
It’s not just the CPP he’s opposed. Pruitt has sued the EPA over soot and smog pollution rules and over limits on emissions of mercury, arsenic, acid gases, etc. from power plants. He’s a close ally of several fossil fuel companies and was exposed for having submitted to the EPA and other Federal agencies, as his own, letters that were actually written by Devon Energy lobbyists. Pruitt is a strong backer of fracking and nearly half of his PAC funding comes from the energy industry. He has made it clear that he seeks to dismantle the EPA’s programs that address the Climate Crisis. These programs, while not nearly adequate, are today the backbone of the American response to climate change. Dismantling them would put the entire Paris Climate Accord in jeopardy.
For
the Department of Energy, Trump has chosen former Texas Governor Rick Perry,
who, when running for president, famously called for eliminating the DoE, along
with two other departments. When asked in a debate, couldn’t recall the name of
one department he wanted to shutter. You guessed it, it was the DoE.
Unlike
Obama’s DoE heads, both distinguished physicists, Perry has no expertise in the
field of energy, nor in the realm of nuclear weapons and waste, which are
actually the DoE’s biggest areas of responsibility.
Perry
does have a long history of receiving financial support from the fossil fuel
industry and he currently serves on the boards of directors of both Sunoco Logistics Partners
and Energy
Transfer Partners. The latter is the company building the Dakota
Access Pipeline (DAPL), in which Donald Trump happens to own stock. Given his
deep involvement in fossil fuels, can we really expect Rick Perry to take the
lead in moving us to a post-carbon, climate-friendly energy economy?
And
then there’s Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee to head the State Department. Here
we’re looking at someone who has spent their entire career working for one
company, ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the world, and has served as their
CEO for the past ten years.
In
2015 investigative journalists discovered that his company has been aware,
since the 1970s, of the role fossil fuels are playing in altering the Earth’s
climate, but had suppressed internal research and, at the same time, was
uniquely aggressive in funding climate change deniers. On Tillerson’s watch the
company has continued to drag its feet, rather than move forward to a
post-fossil fuel energy system.
While
the Secretary of State doesn’t determine energy policy, Tillerson, who has no
public service or diplomatic experience, would be responsible for negotiating
climate agreements and trade agreements that involve fossil fuels. Is it really
possible for someone who is deeply committed to continuing to explore for and
extract more dirty fuels, to recognize and support the need for a rapid
phase-out of these climate-altering fuels?
The
incoming Trump administration is not just in denial of the crisis we face, but
is committed to putting extreme deniers in charge of U.S. energy and climate
policy. This is a classic case of putting foxes in charge of the coop and must
be opposed for our sake and the sake of future generations. If you share our
concerns, we urge you to contact your senators now (Click HERE).
