Adam Beitman, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org or 202-670-5585
Mandan, ND -- Donald Trump’s tax speech showed that he continues to deceive the public about his own environmental policies when he claimed, in contrast to everything he has done in office, that he wants “crystal clean air and water.”
Trump also inadvertently drew attention to the massive tax breaks and subsidies which the fossil fuel industry benefits at a cost to U.S. taxpayers by holding today’s event at a refinery. In 2013 alone, the fossil fuel industry reaped $21.6 billion in subsidies according to Oil Change International. That’s on top of the fact that the majority of companies paid well below the corporate tax rate that Trump is claiming they pay today. In fact, Andeavor Corporation (formerly Tesoro), where Trump is speaking today, paid a tax rate of only 10%, far lower than the current rate and even lower than what Trump has proposed.
In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:
“Maybe the fumes from the refinery behind him were getting to Trump's head, maybe he forgot, or maybe no one told him -- either way, Trump’s rhetoric doesn’t match reality as he has been gutting clean air and water safeguards since his first day in office, taking billions from the American people and handing it over to corporate polluters. If Trump were truly serious about saving the American taxpayers money and protecting their clean air and water, he would end the more than $20 billion in subsidies forked over to corporate polluters every year and uphold life saving environmental safeguards.”
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