This morning, the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee responsible for crafting major portions of the Build Back Better Act, indicated their plans to continue sending taxpayer money to the fossil fuel companies responsible for the climate crisis. The full act is expected to be voted on before the end of the month.
In response, Ebony Twilley Martin, co-Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, said:
“Congress will directly contribute to the deaths of Americans unless they end the $35 billion worth of domestic fossil fuel subsidies in the Build Back Better Act. These subsidies were identified for removal by the Biden Administration, yet the House Ways and Means Committee has failed to eliminate them in the Build Back Better Act. Our tax dollars must support families, not prop up the companies most responsible for the climate crisis as our communities are burned to the ground by wildfires and washed away by hurricanes.
“There is a reason President Biden made ending fossil fuel subsidies a priority. Eliminating just a single corporate tax break – the Intangible Drilling Cost subsidy – would reduce new oil drilling by 25 percent. Ending fossil fuel subsidies is a common sense way to invest in America’s future and actually build back better. Unfortunately, some representatives appear to be guided by the money thrown at them by oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute’s multi-million dollar advertising campaign. Rep. Richard Neal (MA-1), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has received over $170,000 from fossil fuel companies since taking office, including $5,000 from Exxon in the last cycle. We elect our representatives to do what is right for the American people. This is an opportunity for Members of Congress to prove they are committed to us and not corporate interests by ending polluter kickbacks.
“If Representative Neal cannot deliver on this core Biden Administration priority it will be up to Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden to make it happen. This is a once in a generation opportunity to finally eliminate needless kickbacks for the fossil fuel industry and mount a legitimate response to the climate crisis.”
