AS INFLATION REDUCTION ACT MOVES & AZ VOTERS HEAD TO THE POLLS, BP & MARATHON Q2 EARNINGS SHOW UNPRECEDENTED PROFITEERING, HIGHLIGHTING GOP CORRUPTION
tags
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 2, 2022
CONTACT: Meghan Schneider, meghan@climatepower.us
Today, as Arizona voters head to the polls in critical primary contests, BP and Marathon reported record Q2 profits – a 202% and 1,200% increase in profits, respectively, over the same period last year. Extreme weather driven by climate change and sky-high gas prices are top of mind for Arizona voters. These profits offer important context for the politics at play as the Inflation Reduction Act, a historic cost-saving climate bill, moves in Congress. The profits, which totaled $8.45 billion and $5.69 billion, were collected while Arizona families were paying skyrocketing gas and energy prices. Shell (11.5 bn), Chevron (11.4 bn), Hess (667 mm), and Exxon (17.6 bn) all released record profits last week, proving that profiteering is across the board.
The new earnings report comes as the Senate is on the verge of passing a cost-saving plan that ramps up the production of American-made clean energy, lowers energy bills, and takes on climate change. It shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that Arizonans struggled under the crushing weight of historic gas prices thanks to price-gouging oil companies:
- BP gouged consumers at the pump and shoveled the money to their wealthy shareholders. In Q2 alone, BP paid out $2.3 billion in stock buybacks and $1.06 billion in dividends, for a total of almost $9.3 billion in rewarding shareholders.
- Meanwhile, BP has spent $2.17 million lobbying Congress so far this year to help ensure they can continue to reap massive profits from consumers.
- Marathon gouged consumers at the pump and shoveled the money to their wealthy shareholders. In Q2 alone, Marathon spent a total of $5.87 billion inon rewarding shareholders.
This profiteering is a major problem for Republicans, who have spent months attempting to pin the blame for high energy prices on Joe Biden while acting as mouthpieces for the fossil fuel industry.
As you see Republicans object to the historic legislation moving through the Senate, remember that in the 2022 electoral cycle alone, the oil and gas industry gave more than $13.2 million to federal Republican candidates, which represents 77% of their giving. Now that bill is coming due.
Among those recipients is Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. As one of Arizonans’ main water sources continues reaching dangerous new lows, Lake continues to go all in advocating for drilling — putting oil executives’ pocketbooks ahead of her community before even taking office.
Lake, like many of her fellow Republicans, has not offered any meaningful solutions to stop the price gouging or lower costs for Arizona families. Arizonans have noticed. Recent polling shows strong support for clean energy, and a majority of voters blame high energy prices on price gouging by fossil fuel companies.
It’s time to hold these fossil fuel-bought Republicans accountable for doing nothing to protect consumers or lower costs for families. Please let me know how I can be a resource to you as you’re covering this.