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| A new Senate report, The Billion Dollar Deal, documents how the fossil fuel industry got one of the best deals in history — a spectacular rollback of federal climate action in exchange for campaign contributions. If they received a receipt, it might look like this: RECEIPT Customer: U.S. Fossil Fuel Industry Date of purchase: April 11, 2024 Location: Mar-a-Lago Asking price: $1 billion Amount actually paid: $220 million ITEMS RECEIVED Endangerment finding — rescinded Climate standards for cars and trucks — repealed Carbon limits on power plants — mostly repealed Mercury and toxic air limits, 160+ facilities — waived on request, by email Fee on methane pollution — postponed 10 years Definition of “energy” — rewritten to leave out wind and solar Offshore wind — blocked, with developers paid about $4 billion to walk away Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1.56 million acres — opened for drilling Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, about 82% — reopened for drilling Endangered Species Act protections, entire Gulf of Mexico — waived, no expiration date Tax breaks and subsidies, about $190 billion over 10 years — delivered Former fossil fuel employees, more than 40 — installed across nine agencies Federal lawsuits against polluters — down 76% Lawsuits against states’ climate laws — filed by the Justice Department at no extra charge Thank-you gift — one trophy, “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal,” presented by the customer BALANCE DUE $820 billion a year in health damages $115 billion in climate disasters last year $680 billion or more at the pump by 2055 BILLED TO: You RETURNS ACCEPTED: November 3 Every line is on the record, and most of it is documented in a new Senate report by Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee, built on more than 40 investigations. Even the trophy. The transaction started at a dinner. Oil and gas executives were reportedly asked to raise $1 billion for the campaign, in exchange for tax breaks and deregulation. They paid a fraction of that. Three major refiners went from a combined $1.2 billion loss in early 2025 to a $2.1 billion profit a year later. Now the industry wants to keep shopping. From January 2025 through March 2026, fossil fuel interests gave more to super PACs than any other industry, outspending healthcare, tobacco, and food and beverage. The report values their freedom to pollute at more than $700 billion a year. They can’t afford to lose Congress. Neither can we. The report puts it plainly: “The American people did not get a vote on that deal.” We get one now. Money buys ads, access, and appointments. It can’t buy your ballot. On November 3, a refinery CEO’s vote counts exactly as much as yours. And the fixes are already being written: pass the DISCLOSE Act to drag political dark money into the light and make polluters pay for the damage they cause. Whether any of it moves depends on who we send to Washington. So we’ll say it again. Make a plan. Vote early. Bring three people with you. They kept the receipt. Let’s return the whole order. |