BURLINGTON, Vt., July 25 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) reintroduced the End Polluter Welfare Act, legislation to eliminate President Trump’s enormous new handouts to the fossil fuel industry contained in the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” along with existing polluter welfare for the fossil fuel industry. First introduced by Sanders in 2012, the bill eliminates more than $190 billion in tax loopholes and federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 years. That total includes approximately $20 billion in new subsidies for coal, oil drilling, methane emissions, pipelines and other false climate solutions. The bill would also prevent the Trump administration from handing out hundreds of millions of acres of public lands and waters for drilling.
In addition to Sanders and Omar, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with 20 members of the House of Representatives, have cosponsored the bill. More than 170 organizations have endorsed the legislation.
“Donald Trump has sold out the young people of America and future generations,” Sanders said. “Big Oil spent $450 million to elected Donald Trump and Republicans during the last election cycle. In return, the president has directed the full regulatory, legal and financial weight of the federal government toward helping his fossil fuel executive friends get rich at the expense of a healthy and habitable planet for our kids and grandkids. The fossil fuel industry, with the support of Trump, is more concerned about their short-term profits than the wellbeing of the planet. No more polluter welfare for an industry that is making billions every year destroying the planet.”
“We are done letting fossil fuel executives write the rules while our communities pay the price,” Omar said. “For decades, Big Oil has raked in billions in taxpayer handouts while destabilizing our climate. The End Polluter Welfare Act will finally hold polluters accountable and eliminate these harmful subsidies once and for all. I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation with Senator Sanders because our planet can’t wait, and neither can we.”
Just four private fossil fuel corporations — ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell — have accounted for about 10% of global fossil fuel emissions since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Over the past three decades, these four companies have made more than $2 trillion in profit off the backs of people all around the world have borne the brunt of climate disasters. Last year alone, these companies made $84 billion in profit, and their CEOs made more than $95 million.
As if these obscene profits weren’t enough, the Republican reconciliation bill passed earlier this month by a single vote in the Senate includes enormous new subsidies to the fossil fuel industry:
- More than $1.48 billion in tax cuts for metallurgical coal;
- More than $14 billion in tax cuts for carbon capture and enhanced oil recovery;
- Up to $3 billion in tax cuts for owners of power plants and pipelines that transport carbon and dirty hydrogen;
- Up to $447 million in tax cuts that help oil and gas drillers avoid the 15 percent corporate minimum tax;
- $1.5 billion in tax cuts for fossil fuel producers who emit methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide;
- A “pay-to-play” scheme that will allow polluters to buy environmental reviews; and
- Opening up hundreds of millions of acres of our public lands and waters for drilling.
Instead of handing out new taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil, Congress must take on the greed of the tremendously profitable fossil fuel industry by passing the End Polluter Welfare Act, which would:
- Eliminate all giveaways, tax preferences and loopholes to the fossil fuel industry;
- Prohibit taxpayer-funded fossil fuel research and development;
- Update below-market royalty rates for oil and gas production on federal lands;
- Recoup royalties from offshore drilling in public waters;
- Ensure competitive bidding and leasing practices for coal developments on federal lands; and
- End support for international oil, gas and coal projects to help the international community move away from dirty fossil fuels to clean sources of power.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently asked: “If an energy source needs subsidies to stay afloat, how truly reliable, or affordable is it?” The secretary is right: The American people can no longer afford to rely on the most subsidized form of energy in American history. Failure to address the climate crisis by taking on the fossil fuel industry puts the planet and future generations at risk.
Read the bill text here.
Read a summary here.
Read the section-by-section here.
Read a letter of support from endorsing organizations here.
