New Bill Would End $190 Billion in Polluter Subsidies

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill today unveiled legislation that, if enacted, would slash $190 billion in tax loopholes and federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over a decade, an increase of roughly $20 billion from the new Republican budget and tax law. The End Polluter Welfare Act, led by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), would roll back new and existing loopholes and subsidies over the next 10 years.

With support from over 175 groups, this comprehensive legislative proposal would close tax loopholes and eliminate corporate handouts to the oil, gas, and coal industry by:
Eliminating all of the fossil fuel giveaways in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill’ including a $1.5 billion last-minute giveaway for coal used to produce steel and restoring a fee for methane pollution.

• Abolishing dozens of tax loopholes and subsidies throughout the federal tax code that benefit oil, gas, and coal special interests.
• Updating below-market royalty rates for oil and gas production on federal lands, recouping royalties from offshore drilling in public waters, and ensuring competitive bidding and leasing practices for coal development on federal lands.
• Prohibiting taxpayer-funded fossil fuel research and development.
• Ending federal support for international oil, gas, and coal projects and supporting the global community’s fight to move away from dirty fossil fuels.

You can read the bill text and section by section here.

Quotes:

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said: “Donald Trump has sold out the young people of America and future generations. 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.”

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar said: “We are done letting fossil fuel executives write the rules while our communities pay the price. 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.”

Meghan Pazik, senior policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program said: “For too long, billions of American tax dollars have propped up the corrupt and polluting fossil fuel industry while ordinary people struggle with rising energy bills and climate disasters. The End Polluter Welfare Act would rein in the corporate power of fossil fuel interests. Ending these subsidies isn’t just good policy and responsible government tax reform—it’s climate justice. There is no place for the government to enrich an unchecked industry causing unfathomable environmental and health damage in our backyards and around the world.”

Lukas Shankar-Ross, deputy director for climate and energy justice at Friends of the Earth said: “Trump and the GOP just sent polluters another $20 billion in corporate welfare. Ending fossil fuel subsidies once and for all has never been more urgent.”

Mahyar Sorour, director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy at Sierra Club: “Fossil fuel companies have known for decades that their product harms the climate, but have made obscene profits while communities are left to clean up the mess. Taxpayers can not afford to write a blank check to Big Oil and Gas companies through subsidies, corporate giveaways, and sweetheart deals. We must end the billions of dollars in giveaways to the oil and gas industry.”