Revealed: US fossil fuel companies handed at least $50m in coronavirus aid

Source: Guardian

Oil and mining firms – some with ties to Trump officials – taking advantage of funding meant for small businesses, review shows

Emily Holden in Washington
Fri 1 May 2020 08.16 EDT

US fossil fuel companies have taken at least $50m in taxpayer money they likely won’t have to pay back, according to a review of coronavirus aid meant for struggling small businesses by the investigative research group Documented and the Guardian.

A total of $28m is going to three coal mining companies, including two with ties to Trump officials, bolstering a dying American industry and a fuel that scientists insist world leaders must shift away from to avoid the worst of the climate crisis.

The other $22m is being paid out to oil and gas services and equipment providers and other firms that work with drillers and coal miners.

Melinda Pierce, the legislative director for the Sierra Club, said: “The federal money Congress appropriated should be going to help small businesses and frontline workers struggling as a result of the pandemic, not the corporate polluters whose struggles are a result of failing business practices and existed long before Covid-19 entered the public lexicon.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/01/fossil-fuel-firms-coronavirus-package-aid