Rex Tillerson said to support Paris climate pact

1:35 p.m.

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Rex Tillerson told him he supports the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

Ben Cardin of Maryland spoke with reporters Wednesday outside his Senate office after a one-hour meeting with Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for secretary of state.

Cardin says Tillerson's backing of the international pact to combat climate change "was encouraging to hear." He says Tillerson stressed his background in science and told Cardin "that he is a believer in science."

During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris accord. But since being elected, he's shifted that stance and now says he is "studying" the agreement.

Tillerson's Senate confirmation hearing is tentatively scheduled for next week.


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