Khanna Announces Hearing: Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Rep. Ro Khanna announces hearing on ending fossil fuel subsidies on call with climate activists

WASHINGTON – On an Our Revolution call yesterday with climate experts and activists, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna announced a hearing in the Oversight Environmental subcommittee on ending fossil fuel subsidies. The call followed reports that the Biden Administration plans on releasing details of their $3 trillion infrastructure plan this week, which is expected to include the repeal of fossil fuel subsidies.

On Monday’s call attended by over 5000 people, Rep. Khanna and experts from Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace USA and Our Revolution laid out the arguments for repealing fossil fuel subsidies and discussed steps the Biden Administration should take to institute those repeals.  Watch the call here.

“We are going to hold a hearing on April 22, Earth Day, that will be all about eliminating fossil fuel subsidies,” said U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA). “At a time when all the experts are telling us we need to be developing renewable energy, that we need to be moving towards energy efficiency and that we don’t have much time to act, the last thing we should be doing is tipping the scales in favor of the fossil fuel industry.” 

“The scale of the damage that the fossil fuel industry does to our planet is almost beyond belief,” stated Bill McKibben, author and environmental activist. “It’s a rogue industry that has gamed our political system for as long as it’s possible to imagine. Our fight is a way to stand up to the most regressive parts of our political system. It’s a hard enough fight to go up against the fossil fuel industry without the federal government filling up their pockets every year.”

“Fossil fuel pollution killed 350,000 Americans in 2018 alone,” said Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard. “Not another dime of our tax dollars should go to corporations that poison Black and Brown communities and wreck our climate. It’s time for our government to divest from systems of exploitation and extraction and begin investing in community health and well-being. Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies via Biden’s forthcoming Build Back Better recovery package is the obvious first step.”

“For over a century, the fossil fuel industry has been on the receiving end of some of the most generous tax loopholes on the books. Congress must put an end to bailing out this corrupt industry that is poisoning communities, harming the environment, and driving us closer to climate chaos,” said Erich Pica, President of Friends of the Earth. “With only 51 votes in the Senate we can end these giveaways once and for all.”

“Addressing the climate crisis is one of the policies that we are fully committed to,” added Jane Kleeb, Our Revolution Board member.  “Every year, our government give billions of our tax payer dollars in incentives to fossil fuel companies, spending our hard-earned money on forms of energy that are literally killing our planet and polluting our water.  Eliminating these subsidies and tax breaks would have a huge, positive impact on our planet.”

Communications contacts:
Friends of the Earth US: Aisha Dukule, [email protected]
Our Revolution: Paco Fabián, 202-412-9969, [email protected]

Related News Releases