Last week at a rally, President Donald Trump boasted that if he needed more funds for his campaign contributions, he could phone Exxon and ask for a contribution in return for permits. Since doing so would be bribery, ExxonMobil, the country’s largest fossil fuels company, felt compelled to tweet that such a request never took place.
Even if that phone call didn’t take place, the rewards that the Trump Administration has given the fossil fuel industry and other extractive industries are well documented. From engaging in the biggest reversal of national monument protections in history to opening the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling and just this week permitting extensive logging in the country’s largest national forest, Trump has made a mockery of environmental protection at every available turn, to the benefit of industry.