1 yr. ago • 93%

Dutch politician who worked for Shell poised to become EU climate chief

www.theguardian.com Dutch politician who worked for Shell poised to become EU climate chief

MEPs to vote on appointment of Wopke Hoekstra after his endorsement by environment committee

12 comments

Headline implies he's a fossil fuel company man, but the article points out that he supports elimination of fossil fuel subsidies and believes that fossil fuels have no future.

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- He was a lot less ambitious about combatting climate change when he was still in The Hague. It seems like he just changes his stance based on his environment/job.
  
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  Or he's looking for jobs that suit his changing opinions.
  
  Hopefully he does a good job, should he get the position.
  
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- Wait til you hear about lying
  
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I’m not a fan and think he’s generally a poor choice. But a short stint at a company two decades ago shouldn’t be an instant disqualification… The headline feels sensationalised.

Still incomprehensible Kaag wasn’t proposed, though. Or one of a bunch of other more suitable representatives.

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- Kaag has been bullied out of politics by extremists. She rightfully wants to spare here family the continued harrassment.
  
  What is incomprehensible is that the government didn't hunt down the people who threatened her and made an example out of them.
  
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This man is a complete joke, I knew people that worked at the ministry of finance when he was minister, all he cared about was his image and at almost every opportunity he took the worst decision on the table.

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This is the best summary I could come up with:

Wopke Hoekstra, who was the Netherlands’ foreign minister and worked for an oil company and a consultancy before getting into politics, was questioned by MEPs on the European parliament’s environment committee about his employment history and commitment to climate action during a three-hour session on Monday night.

He made clear his position on the oil industry, telling the committee: “Fossil fuels must become history, the sooner the better.” In a separate hearing on Tuesday, the Slovakian commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was questioned about expanding his job description to finish the European green deal.

In his opening speech, Hoekstra told the committee: “The fact that certain oil majors have long known of their role in climate change and sought to ignore the evidence – I find it truly unethical.”

“The ambitious climate goals, such as phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, are clear and verifiable,” said Mohammed Chahim, a Dutch MEP whose centre-left group supported Hoekstra in the committee vote.

If confirmed by a vote in the European parliament on Thursday, Hoekstra and Šefčovič will together replace Frans Timmermans, who resigned as the EU’s top climate envoy to run in the Dutch elections next month.

Elisa Giannelli, from the climate thinktank E3G, said: “The onus now is on Hoekstra to prove accountability to commitments made – starting from securing a strong mandate on fossil fuels phase-out before Cop28.”

The original article contains 736 words, the summary contains 225 words. Saved 69%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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That's my EU!

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