By KBTimes.tech
Intro: “Drain the Swamp” or Fuel It?
Donald Trump campaigned as a populist, vowing to drain the swamp and stand up for the forgotten American worker. But when it came to energy policy, he didn’t just preserve the swamp — he filled it with oil. Behind the speeches and slogans, Trump’s administration handed the keys to fossil fuel billionaires, prioritizing corporate profits over climate, innovation, and the American people.
The Koch Brothers Got Exactly What They Paid For
No one benefitted more from Trump’s presidency than oil moguls like Charles and David Koch. Through Americans for Prosperity and other dark-money channels, the Koch empire spent hundreds of millions funding anti-climate candidates, lobbyists, and think tanks — and Trump returned the favor.
Trump’s 2017 tax cuts gave fossil fuel companies massive breaks.
Deregulation of methane emissions? ✅
Opening national monuments to drilling? ✅
Approving the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines? ✅
These weren’t policies for the people. They were line items from an oil lobby wishlist.
Big Oil’s Profit, America’s Loss
While ExxonMobil and Chevron celebrated stock surges, American workers got… empty promises. Trump talked a big game about bringing back coal jobs and achieving “energy dominance,” but here’s the reality:
- Coal jobs dropped by nearly 8% during his presidency
- Oil rig automation continued to replace manual jobs
- Renewable energy job growth flatlined due to federal neglect
In 2019, the U.S. solar industry lost over 20,000 jobs due to tariffs and policy uncertainty — while fossil fuel CEOs cashed multimillion-dollar bonuses.
Dismantling Protections, Empowering Polluters
Under Trump, the EPA transformed from regulator to enabler. With fossil fuel lobbyists like Scott Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler at the helm, the agency rolled back over 100 environmental protections, including:
- Methane leak regulations on oil and gas companies
- Fuel efficiency standards for vehicles
- Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands
These rollbacks didn’t help the average American — they helped polluting companies increase profit margins while Americans paid the price in public health and climate damage.
$26 Billion in Subsidies — Who’s Really Winning?
Despite claiming to be a free-market capitalist, Trump handed out massive subsidies to fossil fuel companies. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute:
The U.S. gave $20–26 billion annually in direct fossil fuel subsidies under Trump — including tax breaks, royalty reductions, and below-market leases on public land.
Compare that to his treatment of clean energy:
- Funding for renewables was slashed
- The solar tariff war with China made panels more expensive
- EV incentives were weakened, despite rising demand
Public Land for Private Profits
One of the biggest giveaways? Trump turned public land into private oilfields. Over 9 million acres of land were leased for oil and gas drilling — often at rock-bottom prices.
National treasures like Bears Ears and Arctic Wildlife Refuge were opened to oil exploration, ignoring protests from Indigenous communities and environmental groups.
This wasn’t energy policy — it was land theft for profit.
The People Got Pollution, Not Prosperity
The result of all this?
- Higher asthma rates near drilling sites
- Record-setting wildfires and hurricanes fueled by warming
- Stagnant wages in fossil fuel-dependent communities
And when oil prices crashed during the 2020 pandemic, Trump bailed out oil giants instead of using the moment to transition to clean energy — leaving workers stranded in a dying industry.
A Presidency for Petroleum
Trump didn’t govern for the climate, the workers, or the people. He governed for the fossil fuel elite — the billionaires who funded his campaigns, filled his cabinet, and wrote his energy policies.
If the future is green, Trump’s legacy is black — drenched in oil, soot, and the false promise of prosperity.
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