Tell the Administration No Taxpayer Bailout for Fracking Companies

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Bailing out the companies that drill for dirty fossil fuels should be the last thing on our elected officials’ minds right now — but a massive bailout for fracking companies could be on the way.

The Trump administration hasn’t been shy about its desire to bail out fracking companies, and we know the lobbyists for these polluters will work hard to get Congress on board.¹ And when oil and gas companies want something, the current administration has been happy to give them what they ask for.²

Fracking companies are making their voices heard — so we need to speak up, too. Go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=37253 to tell Congress: No bailouts for oil and gas companies.

It’s no secret that the administration is “strongly considering” a massive taxpayer bailout for fracking companies.³ The response to the coronavirus crisis is ongoing, so more bailouts are likely on the horizon. One relief bill recently passed without relief for the fossil fuel industry — but it’s very possible that fracking companies could still get their bailout in future legislation.

Congress needs to protect the planet, not prop up polluters — so it needs to hear from us.

Let your elected officials know that you oppose bailing out fracking companies.

Fracking is an environmental disaster that threatens our air, land and water alike. One study detected more than 6,600 spills at fracking sites in just four states.⁴ And fracking is a massive source of methane, an extremely powerful greenhouse gas responsible for at least 25 percent of global warming.⁵

Between the risk of explosions and spills, the toxic threat to our groundwater, the damage drilling operations do to wildlife habitat, and the devastating impact of methane on the climate — there are countless reasons we should quit fracking as soon as possible.

Tell Congress not to bail out fracking companies.

1. Jeff Stein, Will Englund, Steven Mufson and Robert Costa, “White House likely to pursue federal aid for shale companies hit by oil shock, coronavirus downturn,” The Washington Post, March 10, 2020.
2. Lisa Friedman, “E.P.A., Citing Coronavirus, Drastically Relaxes Rules for Polluters,” The New York Times, March 26, 2020.
3. Jeff Stein, Will Englund, Steven Mufson and Robert Costa, “White House likely to pursue federal aid for shale companies hit by oil shock, coronavirus downturn,” The Washington Post, March 10, 2020.
4. “Study finds 6,600 spills from fracking in just four states,” Phys.org, February 21, 2017.
5. Johnathan Watts, “Oil and gas firms ‘have had far worse climate impact than thought’,” The Guardian, February 19, 2020.