Majority Leader Hoyer Endorses Gift to the Oil Industry as Dems’ New COVID Package Fails to Block Fossil Fuel Bailout

For Immediate Release

Today, House Democrats unveiled the HEROES Act, which fails to include provisions of the REWIND Act that would prevent the federal government from bailing out the oil and gas industry. At the same time, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) came out in support of a ploy to get the government to buy oil to fill the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserve, saying, "This is a time to restock the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and make sure that we have a supply.”

In response, Food & Water Action Policy Director Mitch Jones released the following statement:

"The idea of bailing out the oil and gas industry by filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be laughable if it were not so serious. The flailing oil and gas industry built its boom cycle on epic overproduction, flooding the world in a glut of oil at the exact time we need to be dramatically reducing extraction of all fossil fuels. We should not be bailing out the oil and gas industry - we should be buying it out by taking public control of assets and managing a fair and just transition for workers and front-line communities. Doing otherwise is irresponsible, and shows a lack of real understanding of the climate crisis. Democratic leadership must get this right, because the fate of our habitable planet depends on it.”

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