Trump’s Last-Ditch Banking Rule Seeks to Prop Up Fossil Fuels

Washington, DC -- Today, just 10 days after the public comment period ended (which saw more than 35,000 public comments), the Trump administration’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized a rule which effectively tries to force banks to lend to fossil fuel companies and other businesses without regard to strategic or reputational risks. The Sierra Club and more than two dozen civil society groups submitted public comments opposing the rule.

Last week, just two weeks before leaving office, the Trump administration held its lease sale to sell off parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling. The sale was a flop and brought in less than 1% of the revenue that Congressional Republicans promised. This came after more than two dozen banks worldwide, including every major American bank, ruled out funding for new drilling in the Arctic.

In response, Sierra Club financial advocacy senior campaign representative Ben Cushing released the following statement:

“The deceptively named ‘fair access’ rule shows yet again that the Trump administration will go to any lengths in its final days to serve the failing fossil fuel industry and its other toxic industry backers. Banks should be encouraged, not dissuaded, from factoring climate change and other financial risks into their lending decisions. The Biden administration cannot accept this last-ditch effort to bully banks into lending to fossil fuels and other risky businesses and should ensure this rule never takes effect.”