JULY 13, 2012
UPDATE: You HAVE to see this powerful video contrasting Tillerson's comments with footage of recent global warming-fueled extreme weather events (HT our friends at Forecast the Facts).
In what can best be described as a "Let them eat cake" moment, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson acknowledged this week that the burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet, but that the "illiterate" public should not worry because society will adapt.
In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Tillerson complained that environmental advocacy groups "manufacture fear" to a poorly educated populace that doesn't have the science and math skills to see through the scare tactics.
Boooo!
Did it work? Did we scare you? Or did we use too many o's in "Boooo"?
Luckily, most of us are not as stupid as Tillerson thinks, and we're able to read and listen to the overwhelming evidence that the Earth is warming faster and more severely than it has in history, and that the warming is directly related to the increased burning of fossil fuels.
As far as being able to adapt, tell that to the hundreds of millions of people who live along the coastlines of the world, like our friends in Miami who will lose everything as sea levels rise. Tell that to the people who will face increasing forest fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados and heat waves, among other things, thanks to global warming. Tell that to the species that will go extinct.
It's tempting to send Tillerson a cake, but he might actually enjoy it. So instead we're going to go the Exxon Mobil's headquarters in Houston, Texas, and stage a massive rally on Saturday to show all of the Big Oil conglomerates that America wants off oil.
And you can help! Even if you don't live near Houston - click here to add your name to the list of over 1 million people calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and we'll deliver it to Tillerson's office in Houston!
And then we'll eat cake.