Thursday, May 6. Here’s what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.
Newsletter
Get our free Coronavirus Today newsletter
Sign up for the latest news, best stories and what they mean for you, plus answers to your questions.
Enter email address You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
With this newsletter, we’ve followed the pandemic through its twists and turns for more than a year. I’m grateful to you, dear reader, for trusting us to guide you through this unprecedented time.
But the scope of the pandemic can’t be fully captured in a daily dispatch to your inbox. So Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) is calling in backup.
(Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)) Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) together with Sen. Merkley (D-Ore.), Sen. Markey (D- Mass.) and Rep. Barragan (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to close tax loopholes and eliminate other federal subsidies for the oil, gas, and coal industries.
Right now, American taxpayers are on the hook for about $15 billion in direct federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. In 2019 alone, the oil, gas, and coal companies that receive these handouts spent $190 million lobbying Congress – for an over 11,000 percent return on investment. At a time when climate change is already causing devastating harm around the world, it makes no sense for Congress to continue giving away taxpayer money to the hugely profitable and highly polluting fossil fuel industry.