From the Executive Director
In this moment two possible futures are before us—one in which the Biden administration and members of Congress deliver on promises to prioritize climate and environmental justice, and the other in which fossil fuel corporations escape accountability for their decades of pollution and deceit. Which future will today’s policymakers in power deliver? That’s the question.
Greenpeace is fighting on multiple fronts for climate action at the scale that science and justice demand. That means saying YES to Greenpeace’s Just Recovery Agenda and NO to fossil fuel corporations. As a top priority this year, it specifically means saying NO to billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded fossil fuel subsidies and sweetheart deals for dirty energy operations.
We cannot continue to burn fossil fuels and limit climate breakdown at the same time. Especially not if we continue subsidizing the very corporations responsible for the crisis we’re in today. Even in the middle of a climate crisis, oil and gas corporations are still planning new drilling projects, and nearly half of the yet-to-be produced oil in the U.S. would be unprofitable without subsidies from the federal government. Eliminating subsidies would be a huge blow to fossil fuel corporations.
So it’s no surprise that oil lobbyists at the American Petroleum Institute and their political allies are determined to hold on to the tax breaks and loopholes they’re used to. Their survival depends on it. But what’s bad for oil lobbyists is good for the rest of us—if we end fossil fuel subsidies we can instead invest that money in a just transition to renewable energy.
Shifting to clean, reliable energy will not only slow the tide of climate catastrophe, it will create millions of new jobs that sustain families while protecting community health. We deserve a world beyond fossil fuels: a world in which workers’ rights, community health, and our shared climate come before corporate profits.
Right now, we have an unprecedented chance to lay the groundwork, and Greenpeace is going all-in. Not a dime of our tax dollars should go to corporations that poison our communities and wreck our climate. By ending government subsidies for fossil fuels, we can fight the climate crisis and work toward justice, dignity, and wellbeing for everyone at the same time. That’s the future we want and deserve, and if we stand strong together, I believe it’s within our reach.
For a green and peaceful future,
Annie Leonard
Executive Director, Greenpeace USA
Annie Leonard, Executive Director
Greenpeace USA
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