DV Journal

(For an alternate point of view, see: Point: Time to Get Real about Renewables)

Why in the world should the public provide giant subsidies to the giant corporations that are rushing us to climate catastrophe?

Showered with tens of millions of dollars in oil and gas campaign contributions, President-elect Donald Trump is poised to pay back the favor thousands of times over — at public expense. Trump and his pro-fossil fuel corporate cronies aim to put their collective thumb on the scale for Big Oil, bolstering their already robust subsidies — billions of dollars that perpetuate a system of environmental degradation and economic injustice.

Trump’s Cabinet picks are fully committed to Big Oil giveaways. Trump’s pick for energy secretary, Chris Wright, is a climate change-denying oil executive who once said, “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either.”

Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for the Interior Department, which leases onshore land and offshore water for oil and gas production, is a close ally of oil billionaire Harold Hamm, whose family leases from 200 acres of Burgum’s land in North Dakota for oil drilling. Burgum has spent years promoting a “carbon capture” scheme allowing his state’s fossil fuel industry to keep drilling.

Each year, taxpayers hand over $17 billion to fossil fuel companies. These subsidies take many forms, from tax breaks for drilling operations to federal support for export infrastructure. Far from promoting energy security or affordability, these giveaways incentivize oil and gas companies to prioritize exports to overseas markets, including China, over domestic needs.

That’s a bad strategy for consumers and businesses.

And Big Oil isn’t satisfied. Oil and gas corporations hope to extract even more tax subsidies in the coming tax fight in Congress.

During Trump’s first term in office, he aggressively rolled back environmental and energy regulations, repealing or weakening more than 100 environmental rules, including the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, and loosened restrictions on methane emissions from oil and gas operations, undermining the market for renewables.

The Biden administration has worked hard to undo the damage by promoting lower-cost renewable energy. Now, those achievements are at risk.

Far from promoting energy security or affordability, fossil fuel giveaways incentivize oil and gas companies to prioritize overseas markets over domestic needs. As a result, American families face higher energy bills, with natural gas prices rising 52 percent between 2016 and 2023, while fossil fuel executives rake in record profits.

The environmental cost is equally staggering. Subsidizing fossil fuels accelerates global warming and undermines our ability to meet climate goals. Increased drilling and exports mean more pipelines, more methane leaks, and more emissions — locking in decades of climate harm at a time when the world cannot afford further delay in transitioning to clean energy.

Taxpayers are subsidizing fossil fuels at a moment when the cheapest forms of energy are renewable. The cost of solar energy systems has plummeted by 88 percent between 2010 and 2021, making solar one of the most affordable energy sources in almost every geographic market in the United States. In the same period, onshore wind energy costs dropped by 68 percent.

The choice is clear: We can continue subsidizing a system that enriches fossil fuel executives at the expense of the planet and the public, or we can invest in a clean energy future that benefits everyone.

Policymakers need to redirect our taxpayer money to accelerate the deployment of renewables, invest in energy storage and grid modernization, and support workers and communities transitioning away from fossil fuels.

For the sake of our economy, our environment, and future generations, it’s time to leave fossil fuel subsidies in the past.

Taxpayer resources and state employees should not be used for campaign events. Unfortunately, as the nation moves ever closer to what is sure to be a contentious general election in the fall, we have seen a continued pattern of state employees and state taxpayer-funded resources being used in furtherance of campaign events.

Since taking office, I have always drawn a significantly higher standard for the separation of campaigning and politics from my official duties and staff. And the reasons cannot be clearer.

I was first elected to office on the heels of the legislative pay raise and during a time when elected members of the General Assembly and taxpayer-paid staff were being sent to jail for inappropriately mixing campaigning and official duties.

The lesson from the public at the ballot box and from law enforcement was clear: do not mix political activity with taxpayer assets or there will be consequences.

Fast forward to 2024, and the lessons of the past seem to be forgotten by some in the urgency of the political environment before us.

In just the last few weeks, we have seen repeated instances of state taxpayer resources going to the assistance of campaign events held at the State Capitol. All specifically in furtherance of the Biden-Harris reelection campaign.

This has led to Pennsylvania House Democrats, who are heavily involved in the planning and performance of these events, then parlaying the campaign events into political theatre in the House chamber that only contributes to the gridlock and polarization we are experiencing in our state legislature.

When I addressed this issue with the secretary of the Department of General Services, whose department is responsible for approving and assisting groups holding events at the Capitol, I was told there is nothing wrong with the use of departmental assets and employees—all paid for by the taxpayers—in helping run campaign events on State Capitol grounds.

It seems apparent, if not just common sense, that the use of state taxpayer assets, including employees in the official conduct of their duties, is grossly inappropriate and unethical.

Given the stance of the department, and the continued and repeated campaign events at the State Capitol organized by House Democrats, I decided to take legislative action to clearly make the use of taxpayer-funded resources deployed in furtherance of political campaign events expressly unlawful.

Recently, I filed amendments to legislation running in the House and filed a standalone bill to place civil penalties between $2,500 and $25,000 on public officials and/or state employees who authorize the use of state taxpayer resources and/or employees in furtherance of political campaign objectives.

In addition, they would be barred from state employment for a period of not less than two years.

It is axiomatic that official, taxpayer-funded resources should not be used in furtherance of political campaign objectives—especially with the contentiousness of our politics of today.

I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will join me in recognizing this and in taking action to stop the practice entirely.