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WASHINGTON – CEOs from seven major oil companies are meeting today with Trump in the White House. The discussion is expected to include support for the industry amidst the coronavirus and the Saudi-Russia oil price war.
“Polluters have wasted no time exploiting the coronavirus for profit,” said Lukas Ross, senior policy analyst at Friends of the Earth. “While Americans are losing their lives and healthcare workers are pleading for protective equipment, the Trump Administration is bending over backward to bailout Big Oil. This is a telling testament to Trump’s disastrous priorities.”
Since the crisis began, Friends of the Earth has tracked and analyzing the numerous ways that polluters have sought to exploit the crisis, including:
- The potential for royalty relief on public lands and waters to subsidize giant companies like BP, Shell and Exxon
- The potential for the $500 billion slush fund from the last stimulus to support the ailing, cash-strapped fracking industry
- The likely illegal bid to prop up oil prices with purchases into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve