The fossil fuel industry secured an estimated $190bn in tax breaks and subsidies over the next decade after responding to Donald Trump’s pre-election call for major campaign donations, leaving American taxpayers to shoulder higher bills and public health costs associated with pollution, according to a new report. Released on Thursday by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, ranking member of the Senate environment and public works committee, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, the report details what the senators describe as the fossil fuel industry’s expansive influence over the Trump administration. Pointing to Trump’s April 2024 fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, Florida where he reportedly asked industry executives for $1bn in campaign contributions, in exchange for tax breaks and deregulations, the report said: “Big oil delivered in the hundreds of millions.” The senators said: “The Trump administration has delivered right back, handing polluters benefits worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
That bargain came at a price, and American families are the ones paying it: higher energy bills and higher costs associated with increased damages from climate change and air and water pollution.” The senators also cited the Trump administration’s “near-total refusal to cooperate with legitimate congressional oversight”, saying it “complicated” their investigation. The estimate of $190bn savings for industry is calculated from existing tax breaks and subsidies over the next 10 years plus new benefits delivered by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to an analysis by Senator Bernie Sanders for legislation he proposed with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to eliminate “handouts” for industry. In addition to an estimated $201m investment in Trump’s re-election campaign, industry executives contributed $19m to his inaugural fund, which the report described as “the largest political investment the industry has ever made”.
In exchange, the report said Trump appointed 26 senior officials – all of whom had previously worked for fossil fuel, chemical, or other polluting industries – across various government agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the energy and interior departments. The report also noted that the fossil-fuel industry secured various policies that would curb competition from clean energy, increase gas and coal consumption and “force Americans to spend at least $580bn in added fuel costs alone over the next three decades”. As part of Trump’s “big, beautiful” domestic spending bill, signed last July, the government created a $1bn direct subsidy fund for fossil fuels, using the Defense Production Act authority to “funnel taxpayer money into propping up fossil fuel projects” considered economically risky by private capital markets.
The act also provides a permanent 20% business income deduction for oil and gas companies, which the report said would cost the government an estimated $737bn overall. The report further accuses the Trump administration of exempting companies from pollution controls, saying Trump “abused” the Clean Air Act by exempting more than 180 polluting facilities. The senators noted that “the rules at issue were designed to limit emissions of known neurotoxin and carcinogens”.
It also highlighted that the Trump administration repealed federal vehicle greenhouse gas standards and moved to roll back emissions rules for power plants and oil and gas facilities. While the Trump administration estimated the changes would save Americans $1.3tn, the report cites an estimate of $1.5tn in additional fuel, repair and maintenance costs for consumers. Separately, the estimated that the repeal would result in at least $580bn in additional fuel costs over the next three decades.
The report describes the policy as potentially the “single largest payback” the Trump administration has provided the fossil fuel industry. Moreover, the report found that the Trump administration’s attacks on fossil fuel competitors include paying companies $1.8bn in taxpayer funds to cancel wind projects across the country. As of May, more than 160 projects – all proposed on private land – had been frozen.
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