Democrats to Big Oil: Suspend buybacks and dividends during Ukraine war
CNN
Two top House Democrats are pushing the CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell to scrap their stock buyback and dividends during the war in Ukraine and shift funding for those shareholder rewards towards lowering prices at the gas pump.
"As Vladimir Putin's illegal war against Ukraine is raising gas prices and hurting Americans at the pump, fossil fuel companies are taking advantage of the crisis by raking in record profits and spending billions of dollars to enrich their executives and investors," House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Ro Khanna, chair of the environment subcommittee, wrote in a letter Monday.
The lawmakers called for the four oil companies to suspend stock buybacks and dividends for "the duration of the Ukraine crisis" and "immediately use those funds to help Americans suffering from high prices at the pump."
Hours after President Joe Biden touted its success during his commencement speech at West Point last Saturday, White House staffers learned that the temporary pier the military had just constructed into Gaza was falling apart. Four Army vessels had been beached, two in Gaza and two along the coast of Israel.