Big Oil’s #1 Senator introduces bailout bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has released legislation to further subsidize the oil and gas industry. Cornyn is the number one recipient of oil and gas contributions in Congress for this election cycle.

The so-called SAVE Jobs Act would expedite royalty relief on public lands and extend the qualifying date for the 45Q tax credit for enhanced oil recovery, even though the IRS Inspector General recently found that nearly $1 billion in credits had been fraudulently claimed as part of the program.

The legislation would also modify the deduction for intangible drilling costs, the oldest taxpayer subsidy for oil and gas on the books. The proposed modification would overwhelmingly benefit large, vertically integrated oil companies like ExxonMobil who cannot currently claim the full value of the deduction.

Lukas Ross, program manager for Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement in response: 

Senator Cornyn takes more money from Big Oil than any other member of Congress and now he wants a bailout for his favorite funders. We need to prioritize recovery for everyday Americans, not cut taxes for big polluters like Chevron and Exxon.

Despite what the fossil fuel industry keeps claiming, it is clear that they are doing everything they can to secure a government bailout. Polluters are continuing their efforts to exploit the coronavirus unabated.

Expert contact: Lukas Ross, (202) 222-0724, [email protected]
Communications contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]