The hypocrisy of Maine’s U.S. Senators was on full display recently as they voted for the former head of the world’s biggest oil company to lead the nation’s State Department.
Exxon-Mobil’s Rex Tillerson said during his confirmation that he was “unaware” of federal subsidies going to his company — subsidies that Sen. Susan Collins has made a point of voting against in the past. He also claimed he didn’t know that his company had lobbied against sanctions on Russian aggression. Siding with the Russians against the U.S. was not a problem for Sen. Collins.
I have heard Sen. Angus King talk about how climate change harms Maine fisheries, snow sports and has other impacts. Yet at his hearing, Tillerson would not admit to the well-established role of humans in creating the climate problem. He also refused to comment on the decades-long campaign of lies that Exxon-Mobil has waged against climate science. That was OK with Sen. King.
No one expects the Trump administration to lift a finger to protect our world. But helping them make climate change worse is either an act of cowardice or treason against our children.
Ken Hotopp, Newry
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