March, 19 2020, 12:00am EDT
Trump's Proposed $20 Billion Fossil Fuel Bailout Via the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a Gross Abdication of Duty
Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Action
WASHINGTON
In comments to the media this morning, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated that the Trump administration is considering spending as much as $20 billion on purchasing oil for the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In response, Food & Water Action Executive Director Wenonah Hauter issued the following statement:
"It is often said that moments of crisis bring out the true colors of those in power. This could not be better exemplified than by Trump's new plan to spend tens of billions of dollars bailing out the fossil fuel industry instead of diverting every available resource to the overwhelming needs of our overburdened public health system trying desperately to tackle the virus outbreak.
"A $20 billion oil buy for the country's petroleum reserve is nothing more than a thinly-veiled handout to the fossil fuel industry at a time when its profits are suddenly declining from record highs. The last thing Trump should be doing in this time of generational crisis is allocating vital national resources to an industry that contributes to global environmental and human health instability. Well-meaning members of Congress from both parties should be rejecting this egregious proposal out of hand."
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
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