Summary

As this section is dedicated to the current state of government policy under the Trump administration, Klein begins with a less-discussed but hugely important issue – climate change. While Trump’s campaign rhetoric avoided much mention of climate change or oil dependence, Klein asserts that many of his cabinet position picks signify a blatant ignorance of climate change science and an immediate entanglement with the fossil fuel industry. Among the most notorious of these picks is Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobil and Trump’s Secretary of State. When pushed on the issue of climate change, the White House’s budget director coldly stated, “we’re not spending money on that anymore” (75). Perhaps more tellingly, Klein claims that since the 1970s, Exxon did some of the most extensive research on climate change and the impact of burning fossil...