
Oil and gas industry nearly top bailout rolls in Texas
A trade group president says the industry has been devastated by the pandemic
News and analysis from BailoutWatch on fossil fuel industry bailouts and related topics.
A trade group president says the industry has been devastated by the pandemic
The current bailout programs are a political hot potato and policymakers are discussing the next rounds of stimulus. In the meantime, the Fed program designed to prop up midsize fossil fuel companies continues to grow.
Oil and gas fought for looser lending terms so more of them could tap the Fed’s Main Street Lending Program. New data show their lobbying paid off.
A tally by Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, and BailoutWatch has identified nearly $100 billion in bonds sold by oil and gas companies since the Federal Reserve launched its unprecedented bailouts last March.
The egregiousness of fossil fuel companies receiving bailouts — while their CEOs garner millions in bonuses and yet thousands of jobs are lost — occurs against the backdrop of climate disasters colliding with the pandemic.
Three big oil and gas companies were downgraded after the Fed invested taxpayer dollars to bail them out. Polluters and rule-breakers appeared on the bailout rolls. And smaller players joined in through a separate program.
Coronavirus lifts the curtain on Big Oil’s other big lie: that it can succeed in the “free market.”
The Fed more than doubled its holdings of fossil fuel bonds last month, adding Trump-linked Noble Energy — a company Chevron is about to swallow
The Fed’s Main Street Lending Program was designed to help healthy, mid-sized companies survive the pandemic. Then it was revised to include more oil and gas companies. A Congressional watchdog panel asked a Federal Reserve official and others who’s really calling the shots.
By treating fossil fuels like any other part of the economy, despite their weak financial performance and environmental devastation, the Fed is abandoning its obligation to stabilize the financial system and safeguard government resources, according to a broad group of nonprofit and private-sector leaders.