Tampa Groups Ask Castor To Back Bill Ending Fossil Fuel Funding

TAMPA, FLA — Local residents and community leaders representing Food And Water Watch and the Tampa Bay Climate Alliance are urging U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor to sign on as a co-sponsor of the End Pollution Welfare Act, which would abolish loopholes and federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.

Representatives from the two local not-for-profit organizations, along with Tampa residents, delivered signed petitions to Castor’s office on Wednesday, urging her to prioritize the legislation, which was introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders late last year.

The fossil fuel industry receives about $15 billion in federal subsidies each year, according to a news release put out by the local groups. The organizations said that 2020 alone, fossil fuel companies — some of them among the most profitable corporations in the world — spent $115 million lobbying Congress in support of the taxpayer giveaways. Their haul represented a 13,000% return on investment last year, according to the news release.

The local community leaders are asking Castor, who is the chairperson of the Committee on the Climate Crisis, to back the bill and to help move it forward. The group said that if loopholes and federal subsidies are not ended, taxpayers could pay up to $150 billion over the next 10 years. The legislation would also end federal support for international oil, gas and coal projects that would allow the world to move toward cleaner power sources, community leaders said in the release.

“Floridians are struggling at the expense of polluter profits — and we’ve had enough,” Sarah Edwards, a local volunteer and with Food and Water Watch Tampa, said in the release. “It’s high time our taxes went to projects that benefit the public, instead of padding investor pockets. Tampa’s Representative Castor has the power to do something about the climate crisis, and we urge her to act boldly on behalf of her constituents.”