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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Jake Thompson, jthompson@nrdc.org, (202) 289-2387; Liz Heyd, eheyd@nrdc.org; (202) 289-2424

NRDC: Tillerson Nomination Hands U.S. Global Policy to Big Oil

President-elect Donald Trump announced today ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his pick to become Secretary of State. Natural Resources Defense Council President Rhea Suh made the following statement.

"Handing over U.S. global policy to Big Oil is an epic mistake. This industry has been near the center of more conflict than any other in modern time; tapping its chief oilman as the nation's top diplomat sends the wrong message at home and abroad.

WASHINGTON

President-elect Donald Trump announced today ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his pick to become Secretary of State. Natural Resources Defense Council President Rhea Suh made the following statement.

"Handing over U.S. global policy to Big Oil is an epic mistake. This industry has been near the center of more conflict than any other in modern time; tapping its chief oilman as the nation's top diplomat sends the wrong message at home and abroad.

"First occupied by Thomas Jefferson, this office must stand for our highest ideals, democratic aspirations and universal values and rights. Cutting oil deals with Vladimir Putin is a far cry from that, and Rex Tillerson should not be Secretary of State.

"Advancing American interests abroad means working to leave our children a liveable world, not centering U.S. foreign policy around a business model that imperils our future."

NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.

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