Hi,

While the Trump administration expects ordinary Americans to weather this
crisis with a single $1,200 check, it has bailed out fossil fuel companies
through the Federal Reserve program to buy corporate debt.

Congress must not allow the Federal Reserve to bail out the companies that
are actively causing climate change, especially while leaving regular
people to suffer from rising unemployment, hunger, poverty, and
homelessness.

Will you help put an end to the bailout of the fossil fuel industry?

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Stop the fossil fuel bailouts!

Since the Federal Reserve program started in March, fossil fuel companies
have issued $100 billion worth of bonds, some of which were bought
directly by the Federal Reserve.^1 And some of the fossil fuel companies
that issued bonds, which were already debt-laden, said they wouldn’t have
survived without the lifeline.

While the Fed was busy bailing out the fossil fuel industry, small
businesses and city and state governments had to pay a steeper price for
credit, or couldn’t access it at all.^2

The fossil fuel industry was already in bad shape before the pandemic. Oil
and gas companies had a lot of debt, and global oil markets were crashing
because of the disintegration of the OPEC alliance.^3

And of course, governments were starting to come to terms with the fact
that oil companies were the biggest contributors to climate change, and
fossil fuels needed to be replaced with clean energy sources to save our
planet from ecological catastrophe.

It is the job of Congress to oversee the activities of the Fed –– and
Congress even set up a special commission to serve as a watchdog for the
government's pandemic response. That commission must step up and do its
job by investigating the bailout of our nation’s biggest polluters,
including those that may not have survived without the bailout.

[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Investigate the bailout of the fossil fuel industry!

Thanks for taking action,

Robert and the team at Demand Progress

 

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources:
1. Public Citizen, "Big Oil's $100 Billion Bender," [ [link removed] ]September 30, 2020.
2. The Intercept, "Fed Lending Saved Corporate America. It Could Do the
Same for Cities and States.," [ [link removed] ]October 8, 2020.
3. Bloomberg News, "Everything Goes Wrong at Once for Distressed Energy
Debt Issuers," [ [link removed] ]March 9, 2020. 
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