The coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world in all major markets. U.S. President Donald Trump has already decided to “fill up” the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and approved funding for 77 to 92 million barrels of oil.
Since that approval, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. needs to buy even more oil at today’s low prices. As reported by Barron’s, “Mnuchin, speaking on Fox Business around 9 a.m., mentioned the possibility of the government buying $10 billion to $20 billion worth of oil.” That is certainly much different and much more than what it will cost to fill up the Reserve.
Food & Water Action Executive Director Wenonah Hauter released a statement following this news of possibly even more money going to oil companies during this economic crisis:
A $20 billion oil buy for the country’s petroleum reserve is nothing more than a thinly-veiled handout to the fossil fuel industry at a time when its profits are suddenly declining from record highs. The last thing Trump should be doing in this time of generational crisis is allocating vital national resources to an industry that contributes to global environmental and human health instability.
Keep in mind this is coming at a time when most of the country is out of work, people are worried about paying their bills, not knowing what’s going to happen to their homes and families. The focus should not be on helping fossil fuel companies but on the lives of everyday Americans.
Hauter went on to say:
It is often said that moments of crisis bring out the true colors of those in power. This could not be better exemplified than by Trump’s new plan to spend tens of billions of dollars bailing out the fossil fuel industry instead of diverting every available resource to the overwhelming needs of our overburdened public health system trying desperately to tackle the virus outbreak.
To put things in perspective, President Trump signed off on $8.3 billion for U.S. coronavirus spending. Of that $8.3 billion, the law fails to say how much, if any, will go to help the more than 70 million Americans who are either underinsured or can’t afford any insurance.
Jen Kates of the Kaiser Family Foundation said the $8.3 billion is a significant amount of money, however, “If [the coronavirus] gets much more widespread, all the challenges of the existing way in which health care is financed and provided in this country are going to be in stark relief. And they’re not addressed in this bill.”
The government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Brett Hartl is particularly unhappy about the way the administration is handling finances during this coronavirus crisis:
The Trump administration’s proposal to spend $20 billion for their oil industry buddies is as tone-deaf as it is morally bankrupt. People are suffering and dying, but all Trump and Mnuchin care about is keeping the fossil fuel industry rich while our planet’s climate unravels and a global pandemic rages.
The Department of Energy is ready to act quickly to save the oil companies according to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette: “DOE is moving quickly to support U.S. oil producers facing potentially catastrophic losses from the impacts of COVID-19 and the intentional disruption to world oil markets by foreign actors.”
This is all happening at a time when the Earth is showing it can heal itself from the reduced usage of fossil fuels. Global pollution levels have dropped drastically around the world since the coronavirus outbreak, signaling just how great of a negative effect fossil fuels have on our environment.
The President has recently asked for $46 billion more in an emergency fund to help battle the coronavirus. Hopefully, that will take priority over the oil funding.
