A top attorney at ExxonMobil is joining the Trump administration. Robert Levy, executive counsel at the fossil fuel giant, recently announced he’s retiring after 17 years at ExxonMobil and will join the Justice Department’s newly renamed Energy and Natural Resources Division. It was previously the Environment and Natural Resources Division. In November, Levy was one of a few major oil company executives to attend the COP30 United Nations climate talks in Brazil, where he promoted the continued burning of fossil fuels.

Darren Woods: “Crude, crude oil, and hydrocarbons are going to play a critical role in everybody’s life for a long time to come.”

In response, Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, wrote, “Big Oil’s capture of the U.S. government is now complete. … The Justice Department that should be fighting to protect clean air and water and avert catastrophic climate change will now work on behalf of polluters to advance the poisoning of people and the planet.”