Former President Donald Trump met and reportedly told major U.S. oil company executives, promising to scrap the Biden administration’s climate policies and asking for one billion dollars in campaign funds, according to a report by The Washington Post (WP) on the 9th.
According to WP, at a dinner held last month at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, one executive complained, “We spent 400 million dollars on lobbying the Biden administration last year, but burdensome environmental regulations continue.” In response, Trump proposed this deal.
At the dinner, Trump emphasized that oil companies would greatly benefit from new offshore drilling, swift approvals, and more during his term. He also promised to end the delay in exporting new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects on his first day in office.
WP reported, “Trump’s astonishingly straightforward and transactional remarks show that he is targeting the oil industry to raise funds for his re-election campaign.”
CEOs from Venture Global LNG and Cheniere Energy, two companies that would benefit if the LNG export permit suspension is lifted, attended the dinner. Other attendees reportedly included executives from Chevron, Continental Resources, Exxon, and Occidental Petroleum. Trump promised to allow more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Alaska and criticized wind power.
Trump also reiterated his promise to repeal President Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, another issue closely watched by the fossil fuel industry. The oil industry has opposed the Biden administration’s strengthened emission regulations, calling them “restricting consumer choice.”
Trump’s energy policy is led by Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota, who dropped out of the Republican presidential primaries. He, a strong vice presidential candidate, said at a fundraising event on the 4th, “If there’s one thing President Trump can do on his first day in office, it’s to stop the hostile attack on all American energy.”
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