Oil Change International Responds to Election of Donald Trump

In response to the election of Donald Trump, Elizabeth Bast, Oil Change International Executive Director made the following statement: 

“Although millions of Americans voted to reject Trump’s dangerous agenda, we face another four years of a Trump presidency. Trump has promised to double down on oil and gas production, accelerating climate catastrophe while continuing to enable violence against vulnerable communities – from environmental defenders to Palestinians facing genocide. His policies will compound environmental racism and human rights abuses, with Black, Brown, Indigenous and frontline communities in the US and around the world bearing the heaviest burden.

“We’ve been here before and we know that our movement’s collective power stands ready to protect our communities, our climate, and stand for justice. We will adjust our strategies and our tactics, but we stand strong in our fight for a just and fossil-free future. We call on our allies, both in the United States and around the world, to keep pushing for justice, for climate action, and an end to fossil fuels.

“Movements for change have won important victories under the toughest conditions. It would take more than a Trump presidency to change that. Every pipeline, every fossil fuel export terminal, and every fracking well we can stop matters. Together we will keep fighting for climate justice, for social justice, and to protect our communities.”

In response to the election of Donald Trump, Oil Change International United States Program Manager Collin Rees made the following statement: 

“In his final months in office, President Biden has the opportunity to secure his climate legacy by taking bold action to phase out fossil fuels and protect our climate and communities. We are calling on Biden to immediately end fossil fuel expansion, make permanent the pause on new LNG exports, shut down the disastrous Dakota Access Pipeline, and fulfill the US’s commitment to stop financing international fossil fuel projects.

“Biden must seize his final moment at COP29 in Azerbaijan this November to cement real climate action before Trump takes office. After pledging to move away from fossil fuels at COP28, Biden needs to deliver by championing a bold new $1 trillion annual climate finance package and putting forth a plan for a fast, fair, forever, funded, fossil fuel phase out. This funding will transform last year’s fossil fuel promises into genuine support for adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage – but only if Biden acts now.

“The clock is ticking – for the Biden administration and our planet. What Biden does now will determine whether he’ll be remembered as the leader who did his utmost to limit the Trump administration’s damage and keep the world from hurtling towards climate chaos.”

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