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Page added on January 22, 2017
Exxon’s Rex Tillerson and the Rise of Big Oil in American Politics
“How Big Oil Bought the White House and Tried to Steal the Country” is the subtitle of a book that tells the story of a presidential election in which a candidate allowed money from big oil companies to help him win office and then rewarded them with plum appointments in his cabinet.
With President Donald Trump picking former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, one might think the book is an early exposé of the presidential election of 2016.
Instead, it’s from “The Teapot Dome Scandal,” a book that tells the story of a corruption scandal that rocked the term of President Warren G. Harding’s administration in the 1920s.
In the context of Tillerson’s controversial appointment, history is a useful guide to understand the rising political power of Big Oil over the past century, a subject I’ve studied and written about. And with Tillerson, the political influence of the energy sector has reached a high point, particularly because it strikes the president-elect and other observers as a sensible, mainstream selection.
But this is only the latest episode of a tight relationship between energy and the U.S. government that stretches over decades.
Access to energy
In 1921, when Albert Fall accepted his position as secretary of the interior, he interpreted his responsibility to accelerate energy development on federal lands, including some in an out-of-the-way place known as Teapot Dome, Wyoming. And he believed that this meant involving private entities.
He brokered a deal with Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny, major players in the booming American oil fields of the early 1900s, blazing a new trail for federal policy — a trail that laid clear the crucial relationship between energy development and political power. In Fall’s case, he personally accepted cash to allow this access to oil developers, which made him the first cabinet official to go to jail for crimes committed while serving in office.
Since its indiscreet beginning with Teapot Dome, of course, oil has only become more essential to the lives of every American. If we follow the lead of Life magazine creator Henry Luce, who referred to the 20th century as the “American Century,” we are by association also declaring it the era of fossil fuels and particularly of petroleum. Oil and other fossil fuels were the relatively inexpensive energy resources that provided the foundation for the modern consumer society and political policy often focused on ensuring that supplies be assured and kept stable.
Despite energy being central to our society, though, the policy influence of Big Oil most often functioned behind the scenes. For example, President Franklin Roosevelt in 1945 struck a deal in a secret meeting with King Ibn Saud to allow the U.S. and its allies to have access to Saudi oil for decades to come. During the ensuing decades, foreign oil development was carried out by international companies but often required the support, if discreet, of the U.S. government.
Out from behind the scenes
In domestic politics after 1950, the executives of oil corporations were often involved informally in elections, particularly as donors or lobbyists to candidates more friendly to the industry than others. Most often, though, Big Oil remained in the background.
In the modern era of heightened environmental awareness, Republican administrations typically created policies that benefited the oil companies. It was, for instance, the Reagan administration that sought to undermine the new environmental regulations of the 1970s, particularly with Anne Gorsuch as head of the Environmental Protection Agency and James Watt as secretary of the interior. It was Watt who allowed extensive energy development on federal lands under his jurisdiction — however, with no payment to himself.
Through the 1980s, energy resources on federal lands were opened to development, and environmental regulations were curbed to be more “friendly” to corporate interests. Most often, Reagan was unabashedly overt in his approach in this regard; however, Big Oil and energy were not cornerstones of his administration, per se.
The tenor and role of oil in government changed more substantially when George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush — both former oil executives — were in office. They prioritized an agenda that, while not confrontational, grew from incredibly close consultation with the energy industry that they knew so well.
Dick Cheney personifies the proximity of these energy interests to power during this era. After serving under Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Cheney was the CEO of the world’s largest supplier of drilling and rigging supplies, Halliburton Inc., during the Clinton years before reemerging as George W. Bush’s vice president in 2000.
In the book “Private Empire,” journalist Steve Coll describes Cheney’s consultation with industry executives, from which the Bush energy policy took shape. These close consultations drew criticism for Cheney’s reluctance to disclose the participants and the apparent influence the industry had on policy.
Thus, a review of presidential administrations shows the growing clout of leaders from the energy industry. What’s perhaps more revealing, however, is the increasing willingness to allow this connection to be seen by the public — to view it as business as usual — as evidenced by Tillerson’s appointment.
Direction on foreign policy?
These political changes have come at a time of growing national awareness of the importance of energy, both as a source of wealth from the expansion of domestic drilling in the U.S. and as a contributor to climate change from burning fuels.
While the George W. Bush administration internally pressured government agencies to subdue scientific findings that supported climate change, the Obama administration used regulations and government science to pursue an agenda of mitigating climate change and adaptively planning for a different future. In this approach, climate change was included within the Department of State as a matter of national security.
Tillerson’s appointment, along with other cabinet appointees, suggests a major reversal on the nation’s serious treatment of the issue of climate change.
While Obama worked with over 100 nations to craft the 2015 Paris climate accord, ExxonMobil under Tillerson faced criticism and lawsuits accusing it of concealing the science that substantiated climate change.
Tillerson and the company, which traces its origins back to John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil and has operated in about 200 countries and territories, is of course no stranger to foreign affairs and politics. Coll quotes Lee Raymond, Tillerson’s predecessor at the energy giant, as saying: “Presidents come and go; Exxon doesn’t come and go.”
As the 20th century closed, Coll described Exxon’s approach to policy in this fashion:
“The corporation’s lobbyists bent and shaped American foreign policy, as well as economic, climate, chemical and environmental regulation. Exxon maintained all-weather alliances with sympathetic American politicians while calling as little attention to its influence as possible.”
With Tillerson as the country’s top diplomat, the opportunity to redefine the rationale and methods for the entirety of our interactions with other nations is unparalleled. While this has been true to some extent since World War II, this appointment institutionalizes the view that our national diplomacy — much like a business — will be guided by resource acquisition, particularly energy.
Brian C. Black is Distinguished Professor of History and Environmental Studies at Pennsylvania State University. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
25 Comments on "Exxon’s Rex Tillerson and the Rise of Big Oil in American Politics"
onlooker on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 2:25 pm
Really? The Rise. haha. Big Oil was already a part of Politics shortly after the first well was dug in Pennsylvania in the 1850’s.
Anonymous on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 4:04 pm
Yea no kidding eh?. desmog is a good resource, but when you see an article like this, implying that Drillerson taking on the job as secretary of war-mongering is something special, well….
Its really an attack on ‘trump’ more than any kind of comment on the uS oil cartel. If drillerson is somehow indicative of big oil ‘taking’ over in washingdum, then what was cheny? Him and his oil cartel buddies ran the WH for 8 years, kicked off the war-of-terror. Laundered billions for uS oil, ran his own private murder assassination JSOC force squad out of his office. Among many other things besides.
Drillerson will have a just equaling that particular uS oil insider record in the oval orifice, let alone surpass it. Big oil has always ruled the roost in washingdum. Like I said, this article has more to do with the authors obvious dislike of trump, rather than a serious discussion of uS oils power.
dissident on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 4:08 pm
We are not being informed just how vital oil is to the economies of the world. We know it is important, but we do not get any clear sense from the media. The wars over the last 20 years pivot around oil. The current global stagnation is the direct result of inadequate supply regardless of the price. The economic stall greatly reduced demand for oil which allows it to be priced lower; but there is no recovery since there is no longer the expected availability there was before 2008. People are thinking that peak oil has been deferred. No. It is here already and wreaking havoc.
Apneaman on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 4:21 pm
Good catch onlooker. That thought, including the laughter, came up as soon as I read the title. Great minds think alike and all that.
rockman on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 4:30 pm
“While Obama worked with over 100 nations to craft the 2015 Paris climate accord…” And simultaneously offered more offshore acreage for lease the any POTUS in history, approved drill permits off setting the BP Macondo blowout as well as for drilling in Arctic waters, proposed five year drilling plan for 2017 to 2022 with 11 proposed lease sales: one in Alaska’s Cook Inlet and ten lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, fully and PUBLICLY supported the southern section of the Keystone XL pipeline that significantly increased the import of the “dirtiest oil on the planet, expediting approval of the expansion of Texas coal export terminals after local opposition blocked his effort to build 3 new west coast coal export facilities, fully supported the increased export of US coal, NG, LNG, oil and refinery products, etc.
I’ve gone down the long list of improvements in the fossil fuel industry that developed during President Obama’s terms in office: some to his direct credit and some just coincidental. And they offer President Obama’s agreement with the NON-BINDING Paris accord to balance the support given the fossil fuel industry over the last 8 years.
Apneaman on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 4:55 pm
Not the only thing rising eh?.
‘An Inconvenient Sequel’ Clip: Flooding Predictions from the First Film Have Come True
http://www.slashfilm.com/an-inconvenient-sequel-clip/
Actually the predictions came from scientific models. Al just repeated them. No one listened to either. Ok they listened, but did nothing. A cancer cannot help but be a cancer after all.
Apneaman on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 4:58 pm
Going to be a year round game soon enough………..in Alaska.
Record temperatures allows golfers a rare winter game
“Local golf courses across West Michigan had a little pick-me-up in the middle of winter as the temperature hit a record 61 degrees on Saturday.”
http://wwmt.com/news/local/record-temperatures-allows-golfers-a-rare-winter-game
BobInget on Sun, 22nd Jan 2017 5:43 pm
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/22/511083954/trump-netanyahu-have-very-nice-phone-call-as-embassy-speculation-swirls
Dredd on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 4:32 am
“the Rise of Big Oil in American Politics”
That is ancient history
(A History of Oil Addiction – 2, 3).
They just came out of the closet now because the people are no threat to them (they think).
Midnight Oil on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 5:52 am
Wonder where the Grain Merchant, Cargill, fits in the pack?
Cargill is one of the world’s largest food companies, employing about 150,000 people across 70 countries. Its results come as swelling supplies of food, ranging from wheat to dairy products and pork, have slashed
profits for farmers and pulled down the price of food, pressuring grocery chains,restaurants and other players.
Cargill Inc. on Tuesday reported a 66 percent jump in profits for its most recent quarter, driven by expanding beef supplies and consumers’ rising appetite for burgers and steaks
http://www.twincities.com/2016/10/04/cargill-fiscal-first-quarter-earnings-rise-66-percent/
Oh, sorry they are a PERMANENT oval office board member…no need for a cabinet post..
Been seated up front on the swearing in Bible BS ceremony since Kennedy…just saying…
They country is controlled NOT by the people..
But Trump will fix that…
Apneaman on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 2:47 pm
I wonder how long team Cheeto will keep pretending?
U.S. Communities Clobbered by $53 Billion in Extreme Weather and Climate Disasters in 2016
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2017/01/19/296860/u-s-communities-clobbered-by-53-billion-in-extreme-weather-and-climate-disasters-in-2016/
Seriously, what is one supposed to think about a country that is getting their fucking teeth kicked in by AGW, yet elects a climate denying cockAroach?
Wonder why I say the US has the most retards per capita? A team of comedy writers could not dream up a more absurd scene then what is playing out in the US right now.
Apneaman on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 2:50 pm
Crikey mate!
Sydney weather: City on course for hottest ever January as heat refuses to budge
“Temperatures are forecast to nudge or exceed 40 degrees on Tuesday, with Richmond tipped to reach 41 degrees. The town on Sydney’s north-west has already had a record-equalling five days above 40 degrees this month.”
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/sydney-weather-city-on-course-for-hottest-ever-january-as-heat-refuses-to-budge-20170122-gtwmqr.html
Apneaman on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 2:54 pm
Switzerland Just Had the Worst Month for Skiing in 100 Years
The ski season is a month shorter than it was four decades ago because of changing snowfall patterns.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-10/how-much-snow-is-there-in-the-alps-this-year-for-skiing
Another industry Doomed from AGW consequences. Ski season is shorter and shrinking pretty much everywhere. Or maybe the entire ski industry and all the skiers are in on the grant money hoax too?
Apneaman on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 3:39 pm
LMAO even though it’s about as Orwellian as you can get – you can’t make this shit up.
President Cheeto’s bubblehead spokeswench.
Kellyanne Conway calls misleading errors ‘alternative facts’. Is ripped apart by Twitter
https://www.indy100.com/article/kellyanne-conway-alternative-facts-president-donald-trump-7540561
peakyeast on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 4:40 pm
@ape: Here in Denmark one of our ministers were caught in lies to the “parliament”.
He invented a phrase “Nødløgn”. It was approved by the courts that it was not lying to tell a “Nødløgn”…
Directly translated: EmergencyLie
Alternative facts is probably even further away from lying according to the courts…
penury on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 5:53 pm
Apneaman I love your postings, much information which s never covered by MSM around here. However, (and you knew there was one) Trump has been President for 3 days. I think I will give him a while longer before I start wondering whether he can match Obama’s legacy.
Apneaman on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 8:30 pm
pen, president Cheeto will need to start bombing Brown People right quick if he wants to match Obama bomber’s legacy.
Obama Foreign Policy Legacy: US Dropped Over 26,000 Bombs In Iraq, Syria And More Nations In 2016
http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-foreign-policy-legacy-us-dropped-over-26000-bombs-iraq-syria-more-nations-2016-2474319
Anyone who does not like Obama’s real legacy can always go over to MSNBC or CNN for the happy sugar coated version. Bring a vomit bag just in case.
Apneaman on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 8:43 pm
peaky, why not eh? We now live in an alternative (not sane) reality so alternative facts is a natural. It’s doubleplusgood.
sidzepp on Mon, 23rd Jan 2017 11:01 pm
Yes, Mr. Obama sent B-2s to Libya on the 19th of January, Expanded the war to Syria and let the Arab Spring go down the drain. At least Trump has no knowledge of foreign policy unless it involves one of his ventures.
makati1 on Tue, 24th Jan 2017 2:30 am
sid, perhaps it is time we ignored past “foreign policy” and built new policies? After all, the old ones were failing and taking us into a nuclear exchange with Russia. A clean slate would be refreshing.
Davy on Tue, 24th Jan 2017 6:23 am
I have many liberal leanings but today I can’t stand liberals and their raw hypocrisy. America is now almost completely destroyed as a moral force in the world. This was a process over decades. The invasion of Iraq was the beginning of the end. The coopting of the nation by the neocons in foreign adventures planted the seeds of failure. Yet, it was the last 8 years of the neoliberals and their continued gutting of the world and the inner gutting of the nation that now has us to a Trumpian world. Trump is your prize liberals. I hope you enjoy the butt hurt.
We now have a moral hazard nation of pay to play, a corrupt lying media, and a population of liberals in a fantasy world of entitlement. Our liberal population in this country including most of the academia is in a delusional state of being right and yet being completely deceived. It is the entitlement attitude of a me generation meeting limits and diminishing returns that ensures a dark outcome. The deplorables of the nation are already what the name implies. There are many good people but uneducated and delusional in their little worlds. When it is your supposable smart people that are deceived then you have real problems. Give the deplorables a circus and some bread and they are fine but smart people who go insane that is truly a nut show.
Obama was a complete failure. He was a liar. He lied straight face to the American public on numerous occasions. He played the social caring president as his real friends the rich elite gutted this country. He played golf as people went hungry. He talked like he was great but said little. He talked about leaving conflicts but was at war every single day of his 8 years. No president has ever allow the fossil fuel industry so much expansion and talk how green he is. The liberal press is supposed to be about exposing the truth but they are now about spreading a foul message of hate. Academia is now about political orientation first and education somewhere down the priority list. This all the while the techno optimist claim we will solve all our problems keep on shopping because we will have green cars for you. Trump is the real deal and tells it like it is and the lying liberals can’t handle it. Trump is the king of the deplorables and the liberals are gut shot over it.
We have entered the rabbit hole of fantasy. Our world is crumbling before us and we as a people are also crumbling from within. This cannot end well. The question is when and how hard. One day reality will rebalance these distortions and a new people will emerge beaten and battered. The reality of loss and failure will hone a new mentality from force of circumstance. If you are an anti-American and revel in this you too are part of it and you will also suffer the consequences. In fact it is the anti-Americans of the Anglosphere who are the biggest retards believing this is all the Americans fault. Tell me that is going to put food on your retarded plate.lol. The same is true for the smug Europeans who live the highest real standard of living in the world but whine and complain. Or Asians who are grossly overpopulated and still are keen on reaching western standards of living. This is a world issue but The US was once a leader other nations could look to and now we are the trap others are following.
rockman on Tue, 24th Jan 2017 9:11 am
“Anyone who does not like Obama’s real legacy…” Heard an interest comment about President Obama’s legacy. Probably need to wait a couple of years to see if it pans out. But his biggest legacy may actually be a President Trump.
Davy on Tue, 24th Jan 2017 9:38 am
Good one Rock!
penury on Tue, 24th Jan 2017 12:44 pm
he world that we have lived in for the last seventy years is disappearing.Change is difficult. As said before the fall of the Roman Empire took over 400 years, the U.S. and the rest of the world will take a lot longer. I sincerely doubt that any of us will live to see the other side of the coming crash.
R1verat on Tue, 24th Jan 2017 5:22 pm
Agree penury.
Apneaman you got that right mate! The US gov’t is on a roll now, definitely!
Some of us US citizens feel like strangers in a strange land. I am embarrassed to read some of the comments people write on forums such as PO. It’s like being in a freak reality show! Talk about a bad dream…..