Tell Your US Representative to Support Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies

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

There’s no sugar-coating it: The Supreme Court’s recent decision is a huge blow to our environment and our ability to fight climate change at the federal level.

Bold, immediate action from our leaders to slow the warming of our climate is more crucial than ever — and you can help drive that action by telling Congress to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.

Tell your U.S. House representative at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=50812: To save our planet, we have to stop propping up polluters.

Every year, the United States government gives away $20 billion to the fossil fuel industry in the form of tax breaks, incentives and other subsidies. That’s taxpayer money that’s quite literally being used to hurtle us closer to climate disaster.

Yet a 2017 study found that, depending on the region, 40 to 60% of oil resources in the country are subsidy-dependent — meaning if we eliminate those subsidies, we could spur a transition to clean energy on an unprecedented scale.¹

The time is now. As devastating as it is, we can’t let the Supreme Court’s decision stop our progress toward cleaner air and a healthier climate. Ending federal fossil fuel subsidies is something our leaders can do right now that will have an immediate and lasting impact on the fight against climate change.

Will you send a message right now urging Congress to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies?

We all know how big of a problem carbon pollution is for the health of our environment. We all know that the warming effect of greenhouse gas emissions is an existential threat to the planet. We all know that the ecosystems around us are impossibly, magnificently interconnected — and so a danger to one piece is a danger to all.

But we also know that, when it comes to clean, renewable energy and other commonsense solutions for our environment, we have the power to make positive change.

Groups like ours and environmental advocates like you played a huge role in building the local- and state-level momentum for auto emissions reduction that led directly to the Obama administration’s 2009 federal clean car standards. And it was that same activism that sparked a historic, nationwide transition over the last decade away from dirty energies like coal and toward renewables like solar and wind power.^2,3

We’ve shown it time and time again: When we get organized, when we raise our voices together to protect the environment we all share, we can win — even against the longest odds and the most powerful industry interests.

Let’s rise to this moment right now by finally doing away with the fossil fuel subsidies that are fueling the climate crisis. Add your name today.

1. “End Fossil Fuel Subsidies,” U.S. PIRG, last accessed May 27, 2022.
2. “Destination: Zero Carbon,” Environment America, last accessed May 27, 2022.
3. “Shining Cities 2022,” Environment America Research & Policy Center, April 19, 2022.