Environmentalist group Greenpeace criticized Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for accepting an award Sunday from the oil industry that was granted before he joined the Trump administration.
Tillerson accepted the World Petroleum Council’s Dewhurst Award in Turkey for what the group called his “outstanding contribution to the oil and gas industry.” He worked for Exxon Mobil for more than four decades.
“I have to share [the award] with the men and women of ExxonMobil, because I’m here because of what they did, not because of what I did,” Tillerson said after accepting the award. The former oil man is only the 10th person to receive the honor, according to the World Petroleum Council.
He got a bit emotion during his acceptance speech, telling those in attendance that he will miss his colleagues. “I miss you as partners, I miss you as competitors,” he said. “I miss the healthy debates, the collaboration,” and the “breakthroughs.”
Greenpeace’s Naomi Ages was having none of Tillerson’s flowery language, telling reporters Sunday that the former Exxon CEO’s willingness to accept the award is another example of his poor judgment as a government official.
“Secretary Tillerson’s warped notion that it’s appropriate to attend and accept an award at an oil industry conference proves yet again that he has no idea how to be the United States’ chief diplomat,” she said in a statement.
Ages opposed Tillerson before and after his nomination, citing his career in the oil and natural gas and Russian business ties. Various environmental activists criticizedCongress when it confirmed Tillerson in February.
Activists have continually tried to tie probes against Exxon with Tillerson and President Donald Trump. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, for instance, issued new subpoenas and questioned witnesses about the disappearance of lost memos from Tillerson’s email alias when he led Exxon. He wrote the lost emails under the pseudonym of “Wayne Tracker.”
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Coming from a group that uses Fossil fuel to power their ships(Arctic Sunrise,Rainbow Warrior II)luanch their annoying little zodiacs block coal ships board oil platforms and ruined the Nazca Plains a few years ago with Their stupid message then Greenpest is whining about this? SHUT UP GREENPEACE
Obama had no qualms about accepting a Nobel Peace prize, having done nothing to earn it.
Give credit to the oil industry, they spend enormous sums of money exploring for and developing deposits, all the while obeying onerous environmental rules. Their payback is subject to the vagaries of free markets. Takes brains and guts, neither of which Greenpeace respects.