Don’t expect action on fossil-fuel crisis while government is beholden to the industry

The world as we know it today was built on the back of burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately, this has come at a tremendous cost. Emissions are rapidly warming our world at a rate that has never occurred in the history of our planet.

Why do we continue to burn planet-killing fossil fuels? One reason is the tremendous control the fossil-fuel industry has over our government. The industry spends approximately $250 million dollars per year lobbying elected officials. The vast majority of this money goes to elected Republican officials and candidates. During the 2024 presidential campaign alone, oil interests gave more than $75 million to Donald Trump’s affiliated political-action committees.

Lobbying money that is spent by the fossil-fuel industry serves as a highly effective financial instrument, yielding unparalleled returns on investment by securing multi-billion-dollar taxpayer subsidies, rolling back environmental regulations and aggressively stalling clean energy competition.

In addition, our federal government spends $20 billion to $35 billion a year on direct handouts to the fossil-fuel industry. These primarily include special tax breaks, deductions, cheap access to drilling on public lands and regulatory loopholes.

We cannot expect meaningful climate action as long as our representatives are financially beholden to the very industry driving this crisis. It is time for voters to demand absolute transparency and use their ballots to reject candidates who prioritize fossil-fuel payouts over our planet’s future.

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