As Secretary of State, How Much Damage Will Tillerson Cause?

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President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Rex Tillman for Secretary of State last Tuesday. As CEO of Exxonmobile, Tillman represents exactly the kind of government Trump wants to ‘create’ during his presidency.

That is of course, Trump plans to run America like a business.

During his campaign, Trump promoted his identity as a successful businessman to gain the support of many Americans. It worked. And so, we continue to see this pattern in his nomination of cabinet members as well as his choice for Secretary of State.

Trump has been nominating several ‘successful’ businessmen, who generally represent conservative ideals, one of which is a general lack of concern for the environment.

What’s the cause of global warming?

Conservative voters have expressed a historical distaste for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and tend to prioritize industry and economic growth over their concern for the environment. This usually stems from their stance on global warming as a natural occurrence.

Many conservatives deny that global warming is human-caused or that it is even a real problem facing the planet. This is exactly how Scott Pruitt, Trump’s pick for EPA administrator, views the issue of climate change as well. He writes an article in The National Review about his position on environmental policy and in step with other conservatives, states that:

This EPA regulation, one of the most ambitious ever proposed, will shutter coal-fired power plants, significantly increase the price of electricity for American consumers, and enact by executive fiat the very same cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions that Congress has rejected.

Pruitt’s article succinctly reports the general conservative sentiment about care for the environment. He also expresses the following concern about the EPA that I believe Rex Tillerson would be in fervent agreement with.

A group of Democratic attorneys general has announced it intends to criminally investigate oil and gas companies that have disputed the science behind man-made global warming. Backed by green-energy interests and environmentalist lobbying groups, the coalition has promised to use intrusive investigations, costly litigation, and criminal prosecutions to silence critics of its climate-change agenda. Pretended offenses, indeed.

If environmentalists conduct investigations into traditional forms of energy, then people like Rex Tillerson who make profit off of that very industry, lose money and have to pay more for costly clean energy.

I myself have previously been a skeptic of human-caused global warming, but the truth is, there has been a significant amount of scientific research conducted to investigate the impact of industry on the environment.

The results are too staggering to brush off.

NASA takes a look at the consensus within the scientific community and concludes that:

Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities.

A large number of scientific associations agree on the issue of climate-change and its relationship to industry. This is a convincing indication that the concerns should be taken seriously.

Be a Good Steward

Our Secretary of State will have significant influence on U.S. policies and their care for the environment, which is why the appointing of Rex Tillerson would be a tragedy for advocates of clean energy.

What is striking to me is that many conservative voters claim to be Christians. This baffles me as a Christian because I believe the Bible gives us a divine mandate for creation care.

We are to be good stewards of that which God has created and entrusted to us.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.