The on-going global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging to grasp. In the United States alone, millions of individuals have lost their jobs, hundreds of thousands have tested positive for the virus, and daily life has changed in ways we cannot fathom.
Understandably, the news cycle and our collective attention are focused on the virus, economic recovery, and what the future will hold when social distancing and safer at home orders are lifted. Unfortunately, the fossil fuel industry is taking this opportunity to profit and continue to pollute our planet while leaders and citizens are distracted.
On April 3rd, Big Oil CEOs from seven different companies met with President Trump requesting financial assistance from the government. This “backdoor bailout” is not designed to help workers within the industry. Instead, the bailout will threaten the health of communities, contribute to our current climate emergency, and line the pockets of billionaire oil executives.
Use your voice and your social media platforms to share critical information on these backdoor schemes. Visit nobigoilbailout.com for a growing list of researched and supported facts that prove the big oil industry is profiting from the coronavirus.
To inspire your digital activism and commitment to advocating for clean energy, here are a few shocking and disturbing facts the public should know and care about.
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- Spread the word on social media! #nobigoilbailout #peoplenotpolluters
Source material and easy Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram reposting options available HERE. Additional information on this movement available HERE.
- Express your dissent directly to local representatives, and remember to include #nobigoilbailout #peoplenotpolluters
Beyond tweeting and sharing out the facts noted above, post photos & videos of yourself holding signs and verbally expressing your point of view so representatives can put actual faces to this issue!
Here’s a handy list of Twitter handles for representatives to reference.
- CALL or EMAIL your representative so they hear your voice.
Sample Script:
I’m deeply concerned that federal bailout money that could go to working families will be used for corporate handouts to the fossil fuel industry.
I’m calling on you as a Member of Congress to oppose all fossil fuel industry bailouts and support legislation to ensure that federal relief goes to people, not polluters.
Specifically, I am asking you to (ADD ACTION THAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU & YOUR COMMUNITY)
The last people who deserve taxpayers’ money are fossil fuel billionaires who are attempting to profit off this crisis. The industry has already lobbied the EPA to drop pollution regulations, rammed forward dangerous pipeline projects, tried to get out of providing healthcare for sick workers, and more. Meanwhile, they continue to fuel the other great crisis of our time: the climate emergency.
The economic crisis oil, gas and coal companies are facing is self-created. For years, they’ve ignored the warnings of scientists and economists and spent trillions of dollars on new fossil fuel production, instead of helping us transition to a clean energy future. They’ve engaged in greedy stock buybacks and taken on huge amounts of debt engaging in risky speculation. Don’t let them use the coronavirus as an excuse to paper over decades worth of lies and mismanagement.
I want you to support a just recovery that helps working families, not wealthy CEOs. That means opposing any attempts to bailout the fossil fuel industry, providing real, meaningful oversight over the Trump Slush Fund, and getting direct relief to those on the frontlines of this crisis.
I want you to support people, not polluters.