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The Obama and Trudeau announcement of an oil/gas development ban in Arctic/Atlantic waters was huge, but how each country explained it reveals a major rift.

A closer look at the withdrawal of Arctic waters from offshore drilling shows a critically important detail to how the White House made this decision: They used a climate test as one of the rationales for ending drilling in the Arctic.

As people head home for the Christmas vacation to be with their loved ones, spare a thought for the one thousand or so water protectors that are braving bitterly freezing cold temperatures and blizzards in North Dakota to continue what has become the iconic protest of 2016 against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Later today, the 538 members of the Electoral College will meet to determine who will be the next President of the US.

In the post-truth reality of a post-Trump election victory, one thing is blindingly obvious: Rather than draining the swamp as he repeatedly promised, Trump is going to fill it will his climate-denying cronies, many of whom are very rich privileged, predominantly white men, who are either intricate to the oil industry or have links to Big Oil.

Rex Tillerson’s efforts to paint a picture of moderation amount to nothing more than a ruthless public relations campaign to curry favor in the media. Meanwhile he has pursued a reckless path of continued oil and gas development in order to continue making as much money as possible for himself and his company, regardless of the consequences.

When sanctions were placed on Russia, Exxon left behind the potential to produce billions of barrels of oil. Secretary of State appointee Rex Tillerson could be in a position to secure that prize for Exxon.

To everyone keeping score at home, you can mark this up as Putin’s payback for election intervention. The nomination of Rex Tillerson has revealed with startling clarity that our government is being set up to support the interests of Big Oil and Putin, not the American people or the planet. Now more than ever, we demand a Separation of Oil and State.

The news from over the weekend that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Rex Tillerson, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon, the world’s largest private oil company as Secretary of State, is a clear sign that we face an unprecedented battle against the environmental movement in the years to come.

The news this week that President-elect Trump had met ex-Vice President Al Gore to discuss climate change had some of the mainstream media speculating that this might mean that the climate denying, oil-loving, conspiracy-peddling President-to-be might be changing his view on global warming.