Democratic senators on the committee charged with holding confirmation hearings on former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson’s nomination to be secretary of state have taken more than $9.3 million from environmental groups.
Tillerson is set to testify before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Wednesday, and will likely be grilled by Democratic lawmakers on his ties to Russia, his stance on global warming and possibly even Exxon’s legal battle against states attorneys generals (AGs).
Foreign relations committee Democrats have expressed concerns about Tillerson becoming the U.S.’s top diplomat over his ties to Russia, his oil industry work and stance on global warming. But those same Democrats have taken money from anti-oil activists.
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), NextGen Climate Action (NextGen) and Environment America (EA) gave more than $9.3 million — in the form of individual campaign donations and independent expenditures — to eight of the nine Democratic lawmakers on the committee.
In total, LCV, NextGen and EA gave eight of the nine foreign relations committee Democrats $9,341,329 through individual donations and super PACs, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation examination of campaign finance data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics..
All three of these activist groups endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election and opposed President-elect Donald Trump, and now they are opposing Tillerson as Trump’s pick to head the State Department.
These activists are opposed to using fossil fuels, like oil, to generate energy. Exxon is the world’s largest oil company. They’ve also called on government prosecutors to investigate Exxon for allegedly trying to cover up global warming science.
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has gotten more than $4.3 million from environmentalists since 2008 — the most of any Democrat on the foreign relations committee. That includes more than $1.6 million in direct donations and independent expenditures from LCV.
