News and analysis from BailoutWatch on fossil fuel industry bailouts and related topics.
The deal to buy out Enable Midstream Partners after laying off 1,391 workers shows how Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren will use millions in government givebacks.
Sen. Ted Cruz and other champions of fossil fuel bailouts said sending government funds to fossil fuels would protect workers. But the companies are giving executives bonuses, slashing jobs, and forcing investor losses in court.
New data shows that 46 fossil fuel companies have received Fed-subsidized loans since July, as the MSLP is set to expire on December 31st.
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.”
