Fossil fuel costs are soaring, but the industry likes it that way – low supply means more profit for executives and investors. Meanwhile, the industry is lobbying politicians to block the transition to more affordable renewable energy like wind and solar while keeping billions in government subsidies flowing its way.

The industry was shedding jobs and struggling to secure financing for years before the coronavirus pandemic and global price war threw the industry into a tailspin. Wall Street has tightened the purse strings as gas companies have taken on hundreds of billions of dollars in debt they have no hope of ever repaying. The gas industry is a financial house of cards – it’s time to build a more secure clean energy future.

Americans are paying the price for gas volatility – from rapidly rising U.S. prices, to thousand-dollar surcharges after gas system failures in the deadly deep freeze in Texas in February 2021. Meanwhile, wind and solar have gotten steadily cheaper and more dependable, with the added benefit of having zero fuel costs forever.

The industry is desperate to save its future by building more gas export, plastics and petrochemical manufacturing facilities, often near communities of color that already live with elevated levels of air and water pollution. Any short-term profits the industry gets will be just that – short term – while the public will be living with long-term consequences for the climate and air quality.