I think this Rockefeller-Snoew letter deserves maximim circulation..and criticism. It is an outrage.
"I think this Rockefeller-Snowe letter deserves maximim circulation..and criticism. It is an outrage."
Yes, it does! I heard about it here:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/jer/?id=110009369
Gigot: Two United States senators have been caught trying to bully ExxonMobil into towing their line on global warming. In a letter to CEO Rex Tillerson, Republican Olympia Snowe, of Maine, and Democrat John D. Rockefeller, of West Virginia, urged the company to, quote, "end its dangerous support of global warming deniers," end quote.
The senators also write "We are convinced that ExxonMobil's long-standing support of a small cadre of global climate change skeptics and those skeptic's access to, and influence on government policymakers, have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to demonstrate the moral clarity it needs across facets of its diplomacy."
The letter concludes by urging ExxonMobil to, quote, "publicly acknowledge both the reality of climate change and the role of humans in causing or exacerbating it."
Kim, I've been in Washington a long time. And I can't remember seeing a letter this blunt and, frankly, threatening.
Strassel: Scary?
Gigot: What are they trying to accomplish, Snowe and Rockefeller?
Strassel: Well, no, I mean, look, these people, they've made up their mind about global warming. And they're going to make sure nobody else disagrees with them anymore.
ExxonMobil has been a big thorn in their side, because they have been funding groups that have been asking probing questions about global warming. You would think we would like that down in Washington, but not the senators.
Now, what's scary about this is these are people who have the ability to institute windfall profits tax on oil companies, hold hearings and drag these people, public companies with share prices, in and embarrass them. So, I mean, there's some ethical issues about what they've been doing here too.
Gigot: I should add that we did call the senators and ask for comment. And they did not return our phone calls.
MORE DISCUSSION AT LINK