You’ve probably noticed it too: gas prices are really high. Do you know what else is high? Oil and gas industry profits. Oil and gas corporations have been raking in record profits all while people like you and I feel the pain in our pockets at the gas pump.
Last month, Greenpeace USA and our allies released research showing just how much these fossil fuel corporations stand to earn from the expected energy price hikes coming from Putin’s unjust war in Ukraine. And then just this week, companies reported their 2022 quarterly profits. What are some of these companies earning so far in 2022 while gas prices have been at epic prices? $6.3 billion for Chevron — quadruple what they earned in 2021 at this time — and $5.5 billion for Exxon.
Oil fuels war, oil funds war, and oil sure does line the pockets of a lot of wealthy elites. We know what we need in the long-run: a complete phase-out of this dirty, polluting, and planet-destroying industry. In the meantime, we must reign in their greed. Congress needs to tax the windfall profits of the fossil fuel industry and send this money back to support the everyday people subject to these huge energy costs. We need your help to spread the word.
The oil and gas companies are making billions in profits while jacking up the costs for energy on families. This is a crisis of their making, and they need to be held to account. We are in a moment of many crises, and the fossil fuel industry is happy to sit back and rake in our money while taking advantage of inflation and petropolitics.
And instead, the industry and its representatives are trying to tell policymakers that now is the time to expand fossil fuel infrastructure. We know this is NOT the solution and only further evidence that the industry will use any excuse to try and extend its lifespan and delay meaningful climate action. More production and higher prices = more money for fossil fuel CEOs and investors. We’ll need a far more expansive legislative package like the Green New Deal to transform our energy system in a way that’s aligned with the principles of environmental, racial, and climate justice. But what we can do now is make sure these companies aren’t price gouging the public.
Congress — which recently held a hearing taking big oil CEOs to task on their role in price gouging — has the power to implement a windfall tax for oil and gas companies, but we need YOUR help too! Display your sticker so your community will see it in order to spread the word about how oil and gas interests are profiting off of this crisis.
Implementing an oil windfall tax would confront this type of blatant profiteering by the biggest oil and gas companies and provide payments directly to Americans. Depending on the oil barrel prices, these payments could be over $200 annually. Instituting such a tax could help to hold oil companies accountable, drive down fuel prices, and give a little bit of relief to people struggling with the rise in fuel prices.
Together, we can fight back against oil companies rolling in record profits while working people struggle to pay at the pump.
Thank you,
Seth Laxman, Climate Campaigner
Greenpeace USA
[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/corporations-using-inflation-as-excuse-to-reap-fatter-profits-reich-2021-11
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/29/chevron-cvx-earnings-q1-2022.html
[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/29/exxon-xom-earnings-q1-2022.html
Greenpeace never takes a dime from corporations or governments. Everything we do is thanks to the generous support of people like you!
Greenpeace
702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 | 1-800-722-6995
Greenpeace Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(4) organization. As a result of our effective work for new environmental policies, contributions are not tax-deductible.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.