BY REBECCA BEITSCH – 04/15/20 03:26 PM EDT
More than 40 Democratic lawmakers are arguing that fossil fuel companies should not be able to receive any assistance under the coronavirus relief package passed by Congress last month.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell, lawmakers say the $2 trillion deal was “intended to support struggling families, workers, businesses, states, and municipalities.”
“Giving that money to the fossil fuel industry will do nothing to stop the spread of the deadly virus or provide relief to those in need. It will only artificially inflate the fossil fuel industry’s balance sheets,” lawmakers wrote in a letter spearheaded by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.).
“We call on you to ignore the pleas of big oil lobbyists, put consideration of this corporate bailout aside, and instead focus on supporting the workers and small businesses who truly need assistance due to the coronavirus public health emergency,” they added.