In January 2009, Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson gave a speech that, among other things, supported the idea of a carbon tax . Has Rex suddenly "gotten religion" on this whole Anthropomorphic Global Warming? Hardly. Rex is a businessman, and he sees the train's headlights coming at him through the tunnel; he's just figured out that this is the lesser of the inevitable evils. President Obama, at a town hall meeting , said that "...[gas prices are] going to still fluctuate until we can start making these broader changes [toward renewable energy], and that's going to take a couple of years to have serious effect...If you're complaining about the price of gas and you're only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know, you might want to think about a trade-in." I also remember a Thomas Friedman op-ed piece some time in late ‘08, where good ole Tom was promoting the idea of a gasoline tax, something to keep the price of fuel at or above a specific price