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Statement: A Windfall Tax on Big Oil Is Needed; More Drilling Is Not

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Biden will reportedly back a windfall profits tax on Big Oil today that would be imposed on fossil fuel companies unless they increase domestic production. A windfall profits tax is overdue, but it should not be made dependent on more drilling, Robert Weismann, president of Public Citizen, said:

“President Biden is getting it wrong. America needs a windfall profits tax; we don’t need Big Oil to ramp up production. Oil prices have been high – and Big Oil profits have skyrocketed – because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The solution to that is simple: A windfall profits tax that extracts Big Oil’s unjust enrichment and returns the money to the people.

“Drilling more won’t lower prices for U.S. consumers. More oil from U.S. lands will just be exported – as 29 percent of U.S., crude production now is. And more investment in oil drilling will deepen our dependence on fossil fuels when the worsening climate catastrophe demands we speed the transition away from fossil fuels.

“Americans know they are being ripped off by Big Oil profiteering and want a direct solution. A windfall profits tax is that. Boosting oil production is not.”