500+ groups across the U.S. demand Congress stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Rally featuring Ilhan Omar, Ro Khanna, and a giant dinosaur skeletonWASHINGTON, DC – Friends of the Earth Action, together with Sierra Club, Oxfam America, Greenpeace USA, Natural Resources Defense Council, Food and Water Watch, Oil Change International, DNC Environment and Climate Crisis Council, and a wide range of health, environmental and other groups across the nation, are calling for Congress to pass significant cuts to fossil fuel subsidies embedded in the tax code in an in-person rally today.
The rally is accompanied by a letter urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to support the “elimination of fossil fuel subsidies and other giveaways in any infrastructure, economic recovery and/or reconciliation legislative package.” Additionally, more than 132,000 people across the country have submitted petitions calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies.
“I can’t believe we’re still talking about this,” said Lukas Ross, Climate & Energy Program Manager at Friends of the Earth U.S. “For over a hundred years, fossil fuel corporations have cashed in on tax cuts and other shameless giveaways. Leaving these gimmicks on the books would be a monumental failure of climate leadership.”
The rally features several representatives as speakers, including Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), Representative Nanette Barragan (D-CA), Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).
A recent analysis from Friends of the Earth showed that oil giants Chevron and Conoco have been lobbying to protect a huge subsidy which was targeted for elimination by President Biden. It is an $84.7 billion loophole dating from the Trump tax cut that exclusively benefits giant companies with overseas income.
Contact: Kaela Bamberger, kbamberger@foe.org, 202-222-0703