March, 24 2020, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jayson O’Neill, Director
Western Values Project
jayson@westernvaluesproject.org
(406) 200-8582
How Much Will the Trump Administration Give Away to Big Oil?
Trump’s Corporate Slush Fund to Fuel Big Oil; Nearly $9 Million in Big Oil Contributions to Trump Influencing Decision
Helena, MT
Big Oil has propped up the Trump administration to the tune of nearly $9 million in donations and now they want a return on their investment. How big and how many environmental rollbacks will be done to shore up the financially unsustainable industry remains a question.
"Weeks ago, while the Trump administration was downplaying the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, Big Oil was lining up at the taxpayer trough for another big bailout. Instead of focusing on the public's health and well-being, the Trump administration and Interior Secretary Bernhardt, a former mega-lobbyist for extractive corporations, were scheming to ensure their Big Oil pals were teed up for a bailout," said Western Values Project Director Jayson O'Neill. "This crisis epitomizes Trump and Bernhardt's values: corporations before the American people. Congress should reject bailouts for Big Oil or taxpayers are going to get fleeced again."
One of the most concerning proposals that unsustainable extractive corporations would be eligible for is a $500 billion 'corporate slush fund' that the Trump administration is advocating Congress include in the bailout package. As Congress hammers out the details, the slush fund has rightfully been a major sticking point for Congressional Democrats because the proposal included no oversight and would forbid disclosure of bailout information for up to six months.
As reported in Politico, President Trump has already racked in some $1.8 million in campaign contributions from Big Oil for his reelection campaign and the industry donated over $6.9 million to his inauguration fund. Trump has at least $9 million reasons to support a Big Oil bailout.
A recent analysis by Friends of the Earth highlighted the financial instability of the oil and gas fracking industry long before this crisis materialized. The analysis found that the industry has over $26 billion in total current liabilities due in 2020 and 27 major fracking corporations began the year "in the red" with negative free cash flow. Any taxpayer-funded bailout to the industry would require strong assurances given their financial state.
In addition to the corporate slush fund, Big Oil is making an administration-wide push to roll back environmental regulations and government oversight. Just this week, the President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API) sent a letter to President Trump and accompanying letters to cabinet members seeking major concessions.
Early indications show that the oil and gas lease sales held today in Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada were a complete flop. Another oil and gas lease sale is scheduled in Colorado for Thursday.
Background:
Statement: Trump's Interior Must Suspend Pending Oil and Gas Lease Sales
Congressman Pushing for Big Oil Bailouts Received Hundreds of Thousands of Big Oil Donations
Western Values Project brings accountability to the national conversation about Western public lands and national parks conservation - a space too often dominated by industry lobbyists and their allies in government.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
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According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
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Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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