Wealth of US ‘oil-garchs’ went up 15% in nine months as industry figures plan Trump inauguration party
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Oil and gas firms have given more than $75m to Trump’s campaign and stand to benefit from his ‘drill, baby drill’ plan. As Joe Biden warns in his farewell address as president that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America”, a new report reveals that US fossil fuel billionaires’ wealth increased by 15% over the past nine months. Some of those wealthy figures will be at parties in DC celebrating Trump’s inauguration on Monday and expecting further rewards for his “drill, baby, drill” energy agenda.
The report from the research group Climate Accountability Research Project (Carp) comes just days ahead of climate denier Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, which oil and gas representatives and Trump donors plan to celebrate at a swanky industry party in Washington DC.
“The ‘oil-garchs’ are already reaping the rewards of their political donations and activities in support of Trump – and they know there is more to come,” said Chuck Collins, co-founder of Carp and one of the report’s authors. The oil and gas industry has donated more than $75m to Trump’s campaign. The energy giant Chevron, as well as fossil fuel funders like Citibank, also donated to Trump’s inauguration fund.
The sector is expecting to benefit handsomely from Trump’s second term, during which he has promised to undo Biden’s climate policies, roll back decades-old environmental protections, exit the 2015 Paris climate accord, and scrap green funding programs.
The industry has also made specific asks of the incoming administration. On Tuesday, for instance, the top US oil lobby group the American Petroleum Institute launched an energy “road map” for Trump’s team and the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
