dividends shareholder
5/20 belated<div>related to ceo pay? see stock buyback</div><div>
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</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">common dr an 12 22</font></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">With colder winter weather looming, a new analysis released Tuesday shows that the nine largest energy utility companies in the U.S. raked in nearly </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">$14 billion in combined profits during the first three quarters of this year—and dished out roughly $11 billion to their wealthy shareholders</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">—as tens of millions of U.S. households struggled to pay their utility bills due to soaring costs.</span></b></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The watchdog group Accountable.US <a href="https://accountable.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-12-07-Research-on-Utility-Company-Profiteering-FINAL.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">found</a> that<b> NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Dominion Energy, Constellation Energy, Eversource Energy, Entergy Corporation, DTE Energy, and CMS Energy Corporation brought in $13.8 billion in the first nine months</b> of this fiscal year. The firms, the nine largest in the U.S. by market capitalization, returned over $11.2 billion to shareholders during that period in the form of dividends and <b>stock buybacks.</b></span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The utility giants' massive profits have come at a cost to U.S. households, <a href="https://neada.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20millionbehindPR.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">roughly 20 million</a> of which are behind on their utility payments as providers <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/home-energy-prices-10-year-highs-heating-utility-bills-inflation-rcna50911" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">continue to raise rates</a> across the U.S., pushing home energy costs to unaffordable levels and prompting <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/tsunami-of-shutoffs-looms-with-1-in-6-late-on-us-energy-bills-1" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">warnings</a> of a "tsunami of shutoffs.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Center for Biological Diversity recently <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2022/09/15/lets-talk-about-utility-shut-offs-00056875" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">estimated</a> that utilities have shut off households' power 440,000 times across 15 states that have made their rates publicly available, a large increase from last year.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Well-heeled utility company CEOs are holding consumers' feet to the fire with exorbitant energy prices," Liz Zelnick, director of Accountable.US' Economic Security and Corporate Power program, said in a statement Tuesday. "Not because they have to, judging by their own high profits and generous giveaways to wealthy investors—but because they can with colder weather on the horizon."</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"To prey on families who use a necessary service with unreasonable and unjustified rate hikes is corporate greed at its worst,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" Zelnick added.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Accountable.US analysis shows that the same large utility companies raking in huge profits and paying their executives massive compensation packages are driving price increases nationwide.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Southern Company's Georgia subsidiary, for instance, "had a near-12% rate hike approved in June 2022—and in August 2022, its Tennessee subsidiary was granted a rate hike that would result in typical monthly home heating bills rising by about 25%," the analysis notes.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[twt]</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>nbc <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/home-energy-prices-10-year-highs-heating-utility-bills-inflation-rcna50911" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reported</a> in October that "nationwide, investor-owned utilities have requested rate increases amounting to nearly $12 billion from the beginning of the year through the end of August."</b></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Zelnick argued that utility giants' price hikes are part of a broader trend of corporate price-gouging, a practice that companies <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/24/dollar-tree-ceo-who-made-over-10-million-last-year-blames-inflation-price-hike-125" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">frequently excuse</a> by pointing to higher overall inflation throughout the economy.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Like so many other industries during the pandemic, utility companies have chased higher and higher profits and enriched investors rather than keep prices stable for working families," said Zelnick. "While the economy is seeing signs of slowing inflation, it is clear corporate greed continues to be a primary driver of high costs on everything from groceries to heating bills—a problem that won't be solved by the Fed's one-track-minded policy of excessive interest rate hikes that threaten millions of jobs."</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Utility firms' greedy behavior throughout the coronavirus pandemic has drawn the attention of progressive lawmakers such as Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who in September <a href="https://bush.house.gov/media/press-releases/representatives-bush-bowman-tlaib-introduce-resolution-recognizing-access-to-utilities-as-a-human-right" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">introduced</a> a resolution that would recognize access to utilities such as electricity and heating as a basic human right.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The <a href="https://bush.house.gov/imo/media/doc/utilitieshumanrightresolutionfinal.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities</a> has not yet received a vote.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Utilities are the foundation we build our lives upon," Tlaib said in a statement upon introduction of the measure. "In the richest country the world has ever known, it is an outrage that millions of Americans struggle with utility insecurity, substandard and dangerous services, and inhumane shutoffs."</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"It's time to change the conversation around what we all deserve, take the profit motive out of providing the basics of a good life, and give every American the opportunity to thrive," Tlaib added.</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">milton friedman effected transformation max profit for shareholder, but buyback undermines that BS?
</font><div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/cable-news-discussions-record-high-gas-prices-may-10-failed-hold-fossil-fuel-industry" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/cable-news-discussions-record-high-gas-prices-may-10-failed-hold-fossil-fuel-industr</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="editorial-fullsummary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 2.25rem; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 212, 221); border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 212, 221); padding: 1.5rem 0px;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-content-summary field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/12/eus-proposed-oil-ban-steps-up-pressure-on-russia-analysts" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">world’s response to Russian aggression</a>, energy prices have been understandably top-of-mind for both news media and the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/03/30/public-pulse-energy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">general public</a>. Gas prices reached <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/05/10/gas-price-record-high-inflation/9716049002/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">another record high on May 10</a>, setting off a new round of cable news coverage that coincided with President Joe Biden’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-blast-republicans-having-no-plan-inflation-2022-05-10/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">speech</a> on the same day about his administration’s attempts to arrest inflation. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although cable news shows covering these stories performed an adequate job of explaining how the price consumers pay at the pump is determined by a range of different factors in a globalized market, they also allowed the fossil fuel industry to escape accountability for its role in raising prices, despite the fact that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/24/energy/gas-prices-oil-production-wall-street/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">oil companies are intentionally restraining oil production</a> in order to return record profits for shareholders.</font></p></div></div><div class="editorial-fullarticle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 2.25rem;"><div class="field field--name-field-stories-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cable news rarely connected record fossil fuel industry profits to record gas prices</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC aired a combined 48 segments about record gas prices on May 10, with CNN (23) and Fox (19) airing the majority. Although MSNBC had the fewest segments (6), anchor<b> Katy Tur was the only person across all 48 cable news segments who connected record gas costs with record fossil fuel industry profits</b>. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On the May 10 episode of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Katy Tur Reports</em>, she asked Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm about <b>“price gouging” by the fossil fuel industry, s</b>aying: “The president said he'll focus on oil companies taking advantage of the situation. The CEO of a major oil company said they saw record prices. Do you see price gouging as part of the problem here?"</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[vid ]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>this basic context should be part of the broader cable news coverage of gas prices.</b></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other cable news segments on May 10 took pains to emphasize how the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/05/10/gas-prices-jump-to-record-highs/?sh=7fb2a0003a35" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">war in Ukraine</a>, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gas-prices-just-spiked-again-and-memorial-day-is-just-around-the-corner-theres-little-if-any-good-news-about-fuel-prices-heading-into-summer-11652204043" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">European Union sanctions on Russian oil</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-retail-gasoline-prices-hit-new-record-refiners-struggle-meet-demand-2022-05-10/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">demand rebound since 2021</a>, and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-prices-national-record-high-gallon-may-2022" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">yearly summer trends</a> have contributed to the steep rise in gas prices and could lead to future, record increases. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>However, cable news analysis that day almost entirely left out a key driver of high energy prices: the fossil fuel industry. </b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although the specific role the industry played in driving the most recent record gas prices is still being puzzled out by economists, Big Oil has been <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2022/03/23/oil-gas-propaganda-war-ukraine-profiteering-climate-change/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">credibly accused by environmental activists of profiteering</a> from <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/25/will-ukraine-war-revitalize-coal-worlds-dirtiest-fossil-fuel" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">economic instability caused by the war in Ukraine</a>. In fact, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2022/05/07/oil-company-record-profits-2022/9686761002/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/climate/shell-exxon-profits-climate.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">outlets</a> <a href="https://www.offshore-energy.biz/oil-gas-firms-profits-set-to-smash-records-reaching-834-billion-in-2022-rystad-says/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">published stories</a> about record oil company profits just a few days ahead of the breaking news about record gas prices on May 10, including this from <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/05/05/oil-companies-massive-profits-first-quarter-russia-ukraine/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Fortune</a>:</font></p></div></div><blockquote class="block-quote block-quote--collapsable" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="block-quotequote" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 1.5rem;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247); box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, subsequent <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/sanctions-drive-russian-oil-shadows" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; margin-top: 0px;">sanctions on Russia</a> and the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/western-oil-companies-leave-russia-to-their-state-run-rivals-11646229422" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent;">exit of Western</a> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/western-oil-companies-leave-russia-to-their-state-run-rivals-11646229422" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px;">oil and gas companies</a> from the country sent prices soaring, and fossil fuel companies are reaping the rewards.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">British petroleum company <a href="https://fortune.com/company/royal-dutch-shell" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Shell</a> announced their <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/05/05/2436346/0/en/Shell-plc-publishes-first-quarter-2022-press-release.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px;">quarterly profits</a> on Thursday, posting a record $9.1 billion in earnings. That’s compared to $6.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Although Shell posted the highest profits, other major oil companies also announced major gains. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><a href="https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/investors/results-and-presentations/quarterly-results-and-webcast.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">BP</a> announced it hit $6.2 billion in first quarter earnings, up from the $4.1 billion reported last quarter. French oil major <a href="https://totalenergies.com/system/files/documents/2022-04/1Q22_Results.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box;">TotalEnergies</a> also reported a $9 billion profit in the first quarter, up 32% from the last quarter of 2021. U.S.-based <a href="https://www.chevron.com/stories/chevron-announces-first-quarter-2022-results" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px;">Chevron</a> reported $6.3 billion in earnings, up from $5.1 billion last quarter.</font></p></div></blockquote><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A Time magazine <a href="https://time.com/6175400/oil-company-profits/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">article</a> published May 11 was even more stark in describing how <b>oil companies plan to use their windfall profits to line their own pockets</b>, instead of making investments to ease the pain at the pump</span>:</font></p></div></div><blockquote class="block-quote block-quote--collapsable" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="block-quotequote" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 1.5rem;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247); box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For the most part, major oil companies aren’t going to pour these billions of dollars into climate-mitigation investments like carbon capture technologies. Nor have they signaled <a href="https://time.com/6156525/gas-prices-oil-prices-oil-and-gas-industry/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; margin-top: 0px;">any immediate intention to bolster oil production</a>, despite calls from heads of state to do so. Their inaction has spurred U.S. and European countries, which are under pressure to keep fuel affordable, to release oil reserves and replace Russian crude oil and liquid natural gas from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-03/u-s-sent-largest-amount-of-oil-to-europe-last-month-since-2016" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px;">other sources</a>. Despite those government efforts, oil prices have stayed above $100 per barrel, sustaining an influx of money to fossil fuel companies that are passing it on to stockholders and investors in the form of increased dividends and share buyback initiatives that drive up companies’ share values.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">One <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-prices-top-100-yet-some-big-u-s-frackers-let-their-production-fall-11651926601" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">analysis</a> from the Wall Street Journal found that the nine largest U.S. oil producers spent 54% more in share repurchases and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-giants-buoyed-by-high-oil-prices-shower-investors-with-cash-11651231218?mod=article_inline" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box;">dividends</a> in the first quarter than they invested in new oil developments.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);"> Similarly, a recent </span><a href="https://bailoutwatch.org/analysis/big-oils-wartime-bonus" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px;">report</a><span style="background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);"> covering the 20 largest U.S. oil companies published by the environmentalist organization Friends Of The Earth and consumer watchdog organizations Public Citizen and BailoutWatch, tallied <b>$56 billion in new share buyback authorizations in the roughly seven months since last October, compared with $11 billion announced in the nine months before that</b>.</span></font></p></div></blockquote><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Not only is the fossil fuel industry dragging its feet on actions that could potentially alleviate high energy costs for American consumers, but it also continues to profit from the global instability caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In fact, the industry has a long and sordid history of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/rex-tillerson-from-a-corporate-oil-sovereign-to-the-state-department" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">exacerbating</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/08/oil-fuels-war-terrorists-isis-climate-movement-peace-cop-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">geopolitical</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/4/10/5601062/oil-curse-explained" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conflicts</a> for its own profit. ...</font></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/top-us-companies-lay-off-thousands-of-workers-while-rewarding-shareholders/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/top-us-companies-lay-off-thousands-of-workers-while-rewarding-shareholders/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Some of the largest companies in the U.S. have <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/12/23/shareholder-capitalism-and-the-slow-death-of-u-s-manufacturing_partner/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">rewarded their shareholders</a> amid the coronavirus pandemic after firing thousands of employees.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Companies like heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar, denim-maker Levi Strauss, toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker, furniture manufacturer Steelcase and World Wrestling Entertainment</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> have doled out more than $700 million to shareholders in cash dividends while slashing jobs and shuttering facilities, </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/05/dividends-layoffs-coronavirus/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The Washington Post</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> reported. Many other companies have likewise rewarded shareholders while laying off workers.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Caterpillar, for example, announced a $500 million distribution to shareholders in early April, according to the report, about two weeks after it <a href="https://www.caterpillar.com/en/news/corporate-press-releases/h/caterpillar-announces-updates-and-response-to-covid-19.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced</a> that it was “temporarily suspending operations at certain facilities.” The company did not say how many workers would be impacted.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We are taking a variety of actions globally, but we aren’t going to discuss the number of impacted people,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “We are taking a variety of actions at our global facilities to reduce production due to weaker customer demand, potential supply constraints and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government actions. These actions include temporary facility shutdowns, indefinite or temporary layoffs."</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Levi Strauss announced that it would distribute $32 million to shareholders on April 7, the same day that the company <a href="https://wwd.com/business-news/financial/levi-strauss-earnings-chip-bergh-coronavirus-1203556091/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">said it would furlough retail workers</a>. About 4,000 workers have been affected, according to The Post.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As this human and economic tragedy unfolds globally over the coming months, we are taking swift and decisive action that will ensure we remain a winner in our industry,” Levi CEO Chip Bergh said at the time, after <a href="https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-brands/levi-strauss-coronavirus-china-stores-q1-gross-margins-204429/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reporting big earnings in Q1</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stanley Black & Decker <a href="https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/stanley-black-decker-prepares-layoffs-spending-cuts-halts-ma-activity" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced in early April</a> that it would furlough and lay off “non-essential” workers. It distributed $106 million in dividends to shareholders just two weeks later, The Post reported.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Throughout our company’s 177-year history, Stanley Black & Decker has weathered a series of exogenous shocks and thrived,” CEO James Loree <a href="https://ir.stanleyblackanddecker.com/news-releases/news-release-details/stanley-black-decker-provides-update-current-business-operations" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">said in the statement last month</a>. “We are in a strong position as we face today’s challenges and are taking the necessary actions now to protect our employees and the business while positioning the company to thrive into the future.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steelcase <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2020/03/steelcase-lays-off-nearly-all-production-employees-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced in March</a> that it would cut operations in four states, issuing a statement saying it took “these actions in an effort to avoid permanent headcount reductions so the company and its employees can come through this crisis together.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It announced the same day that it would issue a dividend of roughly <a href="https://ir.steelcase.com/news-releases/news-release-details/steelcase-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-2020-results-and" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$8 million to shareholders</a>. Earlier that month, the company bought back $38 million in stock from shareholders.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The WWE, a company whose longtime <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/29/linda-mcmahon-to-resign-as-head-of-small-business-administration-1243495" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">former CEO Linda McMahon</a> served in Trump’s Cabinet and now works on his re-election campaign, cut 10% of its workers and fired about 20 wrestlers a day before it announced $9 million in dividends for shareholders.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These five companies are far from the only corporations rewarding shareholders while cutting workers, but many other companies took steps to end dividends and buybacks in response to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Gap, American Eagle and Darden Restaurants — which owns Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse — announced that they would pause dividends and stop buybacks, according to The Post. Williams Sonoma said it would continue to pay full-time employees after shuttering its stores.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chris Lu, who served as the Deputy Secretary of Labor under President Obama, called out the Trump administration for <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/04/23/trump-aims-to-shield-corporations-from-legal-liability-for-workers-who-contract-covid-19-on-the-job_partner/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">pushing to protect companies</a> from being sued by workers who contract COVID-19 while ignoring businesses that reward shareholders at the expense of workers.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In Trump’s economy, these companies won’t get punished,” <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisLu44/status/1257708719552565250" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">he said</a>. “Instead, he wants to give them liability protection.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In a downturn like this the first thing a company should do is give up any distributions to shareholders,” William Lazonick, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, told The Post. “But in a crisis, companies will differ. Some will care . . . and some will rob the workers, who should expect that their continued employment will be the company’s first concern.”</font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div></div>