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big oil profits
Tlaib Blasts Republicans as 'Servants' of Big Oil After House Passes Pro-Polluter Bill
"This bill wraps climate denial and corporate giveaways into one tidy, toxic package as the world burns," said the Michigan Democrat. "I urge my colleagues in the Senate to not take this legislation up."
Mar 30, 2023
Climate campaigners and congressional Democrats on Thursday called out House Republicans for approving energy legislation that would, as U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib warned, "put polluters over people" by "further poisoning of our air and water."
The lower chamber passed the GOP-led Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1) with a 225-204 vote mostly along party lines: The only Republican who opposed it was Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and the only Democrats who supported it were Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Vincente Gonzalez (Texas), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.).
"It's hard to overstate the catastrophic impact H.R. 1 would have on our public lands and our ability to address the most severe effects of the climate crisis."
"This bill is nothing more than a cheap political stunt to pad the profits of the same greedy oil and gas companies that are gouging my residents at the pump and poisoning the air they breathe and the water they drink," said Tlaib (D-Mich.), noting that her constituents "are sick of respiratory issues, their children developing asthma, the unbearable odor, and the other public health impacts of pollution."
Highlighting Big Oil's historic 2022 profits, Tlaib continued:
The same oil companies that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to House Republicans made nearly half a trillion dollars in profits last year alone, but their servants across the aisle don't think that's enough.
Residents know the truth is clear: Health protections for you and your family aren't making gas expensive, corporate greed is. Oil and gas companies have gotten away with price gouging and stock buybacks that enrich their shareholders but make everything less affordable for the rest of us, and they don't plan to stop. And Republicans are helping them to keep doing so.
This bill wraps climate denial and corporate giveaways into one tidy, toxic package as the world burns. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to not take this legislation up. I hope congressmembers on the other side of the aisle get serious about tackling climate change. People are dying and we are running out of time.
Several other House Democrats also spoke out against what critics have dubbed the "Polluters Over People Act," with Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) saying on the floor: "Americans know that securing our future means investing in clean energy. Families know their health depends on it. Economists know our prosperity depends on it. And the Pentagon knows our national security depends on it. It's only MAGA Republicans who don't understand our future depends on a thriving clean energy economy."
\u201cThe decisions we make today will impact future generations and could condemn my entire generation to a lifetime of suffering, putting us on a path towards an unlivable future.\n\nI'm voting NO on H.R.1, and I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.\u201d— Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost) 1680188293
The vote came a day after Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), and Jon Tester (Mont.) along with now-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) joined with Republicans to send a House-approved resolution that would gut federal water protections to President Joe Biden's desk, despite his threat to veto the measure.
The administration also "strongly opposes" H.R. 1 in its current form and said in a policy statement earlier this week that Biden would veto the bill, adding: "It would raise costs for American families by repealing household energy rebates and rolling back historic investments to increase access to cost-lowering clean energy technologies. Instead of protecting American consumers, it would pad oil and gas company profits—already at record levels—and undercut our public health and environment."
However, it seemed unlikely Thursday that the GOP energy bill will even get a vote in the divided upper chamber, with Senate Majority Leader Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declaring on the floor that H.R. 1 is "a giveaway to Big Oil" and "dead on arrival."
\u201cWe expected fossil fuel stooges @RepCuellar @RepGonzalez @RepGolden to vote for the #PollutersOverPeople Act, but are disappointed in @RepMGP for joining them. \n\nThis bill is a massive giveaway to Big Oil. The American people and our planet deserve better.\nhttps://t.co/4O92DgZduM\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1680202800
Still, climate action advocates—many of whom have lost some faith in Biden due to his administration's recent approval of ConocoPhillips' Willow oil project in Alaska—stressed the dangers of H.R. 1 and urged federal Democrats to block it.
"Even after Big Oil brought in over $400 billion in profit last year, their allies in Congress are racing to stuff their pockets with more giveaways at the public's expense," said Jordan Schreiber of Accountable.US. "It's hard to overstate the catastrophic impact H.R. 1 would have on our public lands and our ability to address the most severe effects of the climate crisis. We applaud both the Senate Majority Leader and President Biden for their pledges to stop this disastrous bill from ever becoming law."
Noting that "in 2022, Chevron alone raked in $6.3 million per hour and the five largest Big Oil corporations made a record $200 billion in profits," People's Action campaigner Sophia Cheng concurred that "Leader Schumer must hold firm to defeat this bill and President Biden must follow through on his commitment to veto any version of this dangerous policy."
The GOP push for the so-called Lower Energy Costs Act, spearheaded by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), comes after climate campaigners and progressives in Congress last year thrice defeated Manchin's "dirty deal" on permitting reforms.
"We stopped Manchin's dirty energy deal, and we will stop this heinous package that endangers frontline environmental justice communities," Grassroots Global Justice's Adrien Salazar vowed Thursday. "To deter the worst impacts of climate change requires a full phaseout of fossil fuels immediately, and we call on our climate champions in the Senate to uphold their promise to stand with our communities, oppose this terrible bill, and fight for real climate solutions that protect and invest in communities."
\u201cJust now, the @HouseGOP passed H.R. 1, the #PollutersOverPeople Act 225-204. This is a reflection of the #FossilFuel industries\u2019 influence over elected officials who have backed a bill that will increase profits for Big Oil & Gas and fails to act on climate, jobs, and justice.\ud83e\udd2c\u201d— Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) \ud83c\udf3b (@Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) \ud83c\udf3b) 1680193199
Louisiana Bucket Brigade executive director Anne Rolfes specifically called out the House majority leader for this "outrageous assault on ordinary people in Louisiana in defense of big business," while adding that it's "no surprise coming from Steve Scalise."
"We are one of the most polluted states in the country, with cancer risks that are skyrocketing. People should understand that Scalise has introduced this bill at this moment explicitly to make the destruction of our coast easier," Rolfes said. "The oil and gas industry has a plan to build over a dozen gas export terminals along the Louisiana coast. That's what this bill is about. He wants to make that happen faster. Does this make sense for a state being destroyed by hurricanes? Absolutely not. This bill puts all of us in danger of more flooding via coastal destruction, and only serves Scalise's greedy ambitions."
"If industry were so good for our state, we would long ago have led the nation in health, education, and other meaningful categories. Instead, we remain mired in poverty, mired in pollution, and mired in dysfunctional and disgusting politics that prioritizes the destruction of our state," she added. "Steve Scalise and the Louisiana representatives who voted for this bill should be ashamed."
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Analysis Shows Major US Oil Companies Raked in $290 Billion in Profits Last Year
"With $290 billion in profits, Big Oil made enough money in 2022 to end world hunger, pay off U.S. medical debt, and build 10 Disney Worlds, but instead used their record profits to shower $163 billion on shareholders."
Mar 06, 2023
An analysis published Monday by the watchdog Accountable.US revealed that the biggest oil companies operating in the United States raked in a collective $290 billion in profits last year while they "consistently prioritized shareholder returns over alleviating the pressure of high energy prices."
According to the report—which analyzed 26 oil companies doing business in the U.S.—the $290 billion in collective 2022 Big Oil profits marked a 126% increase from the previous year. Fossil Fuel giants including BP, Shell, and Chevron more than doubled their net income in 2022, while smaller players like Murphy Oil And Southwestern Energy saw respective increases of 1,410% and 7,496%.
"With $290 billion in profits, Big Oil made enough money in 2022 to end world hunger, pay off U.S. medical debt, and build 10 Disney Worlds, but instead used their record profits to shower $163 billion on shareholders with plans to give even more in 2023," Accountable.US said.
\u201cIn 2022, Big Oil giants like @Shell, @BP_America and @ExxonMobil doubled their profits and added billions to their shareholders' pockets by gouging American consumers.\n\nLearn how their profiteering kept prices high at the pump: https://t.co/njDbQo9E9c\u201d— Accountable.US (@Accountable.US) 1678133351
According to a summary of the analysis:
The industry's historic margins were largely achieved through unabated price gouging of American consumers. As families across the country experienced financial strain due to the artificially high prices at the pump, the industry spent over $163 billion on stock buybacks and dividends, further enriching their wealthy shareholders. Even as Big Oil executives complain about supposedly lower-than-desired margins in 2023, oil and gas companies have already publicly announced plans to buy at least $160 billion in stock backs starting this year.
"Modern-day oil barons like Shell, BP, and Chevron forced American consumers into financial strain and ruthlessly extracted every last dime out of working and middle-class people,"said Accountable.US director of energy and environment Jordan Schreiber.
Fossil fuel and other corporations have used the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and inflation as pretexts to price gouge consumers.
"Despite the industry's bald-faced lies, Big Oil's never-ending greed was the central force driving the industry's obscene price gouging," Schreiber continued. "Now, executives have already announced plans to spend $160 billion on stock buybacks to enrich their wealthy shareholders further."
"Meanwhile," she added, "the MAGA majority in the House continues to shield Big Oil from accountability as their constituents pay the price."
Last March, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would tax excess oil company profits and pay American households a quarterly refund. That same month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the Ending Corporate Greed Act, a proposed 95% windfall profits tax on major oil companies.
While President Joe Biden has threatened to support a windfall profits tax on oil companies if they don't increase production, he has not yet done so.
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