This week, in the midst of sinking oil prices in the United States, President Trump has been publicly contemplating pursuing federal aid to the companies that have been affected by the drop. On Monday, in light of the Russian-Saudi Arabian oil price war, U.S. oil prices plummeted the most they had in one day in almost three decades. Continental Resources suffered one of the biggest blows to their prices among the shale drilling industry, with founder Harold Hamm, who is also an energy advisor to the president, losing $2 billion from his 77% stake in his company. While not explicity advocating for a bailout to the industry, Hamm has expressed hope that the president and his administration consider “any action that the administration might take to protect and preserve American interests at this time from being unfairly disadvantaged by whatever government — and we’re talking governments here, whether it be Russia or Saudi Arabia.” Additionally, he worries about “how this could jeopardize those jobs and the economies in producing states and communities across America, from Pennsylvania to California and Texas to North Dakota.” Given these statements from him, it is a resonable assumption that Hamm would be in favor of the president working to bail out the industry. In that case, would Trump listen to him?
As aforementioned, Hamm is an energy advisor to President Trump, and is also a frequent donor to him and his associated PACs. During the 2016 election cycle, Hamm donated $5,400 to Trump's presidential campaign. Since Trump has taken office, Hamm has contributed the same amount to his re-election campaign, as well as $5,000 to Vice President Pence's PAC, Great America Committee, and $500,000 to the super PAC America First Action, which is supportive of the president. While Hamm could not have foreseen the downturn in oil prices when making these donations, Trump would likely feel obligated to do his bidding in order to incentivize him to potentially continue to donate to him, and to stay in his good graces. At a time when U.S. shale drilling is becoming "unprofitable," and the U.S. continues to face a climate crisis, it is sad that the president is likely to listen to his wealthy donors, such as Hamm, who are actively fueling such a crisis. Fortunately, congressional Democrats are reportedly not on board with this proposal, and instead wish to focus on "legislation to protect the financial security of working families affected by the spread of the coronavirus,” House Appropriations Committee communications director Evan Hollander says.
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