Tillerson, Trump’s Secretary of State Nominee, Is a Flexible Pragmatist

"HOUSTON — Three years ago, Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil and now President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, was probably the man least expected to show up at a town council meeting in North Texas to oppose a local construction project.

His complaint: A proposed water tower in Bartonville, Tex., meant to help use hydraulic fracturing to coax natural gas out of a shale field, would decrease the property value of his nearby ranch. He joined a suit to halt construction.

Mr. Tillerson dropped out of the suit after a judge threw out his complaint — and after news media reports implied he was hypocritically pursuing his backyard interests in opposing a project of a sort that Exxon Mobil has engaged in around the world. Admirers might cite Mr. Tillerson’s willingness to change course as a sign of being nimble when necessary."

Clifford Krauss and John Schwartz report for the New York Times December 13, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Tillerson History At Exxon One Of Defying, Opposing US Interests" (MSNBC)

"Under Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Forged Its Own Path Abroad" (New York Times)

"Rex Tillerson’s Company, Exxon, Has Billions at Stake Over Sanctions on Russia" (New York Times)

"With Oil Sands Ambitions on a Collision Course With Climate Change, Exxon Still Stepping on the Gas" (InsideClimate News)

"Trump’s Pick For Secretary Of State Backs The Paris Climate Deal Trump Would Scrap" (Washington Post)

Editorial: "A Big Change To U.S. Broadcasting Is Coming — And It’s One Putin Might Admire" (Washington Post)

"Rex Tillerson’s View Of Climate Change: It’S Just An ‘Engineering Problem’" (Washington Post)

"The Climate Impacts of Trump’s Exxon Pick for Secretary of State" (Climate Central)