As ExxonMobil and Chevron announce their Q1 2026 earnings on Friday, 350.org is sounding the alarm on the staggering profits reported by fossil fuel companies, as households worldwide struggle with soaring energy prices and worsening climate impacts that are damaging lives, homes, and livelihoods.
While millions across the US and globally face energy insecurity and rising costs of living, major oil and gas corporations continue to post unprecedented earnings driven by the war in the Middle East and an energy system rigged in their favour.
Recent analysis released by 350.org showed that fossil fuels receive an estimated $12 trillion annually in implicit and explicit subsidies worldwide, including the unpriced costs of pollution, climate damage, and public health impacts. In effect, households are paying three times: through their energy bills, through their taxes and through the unpriced climate damage to their homes, health and future.
A peer-reviewed study found that 50% of US fossil fuel windfall profits flow to the wealthiest 1% of Americans, while the bottom 50% receive just 1%. Black and Hispanic households, who receive 3% and 1% of those profits, respectively, bear the greatest burden of pollution, energy costs, and climate harm.
“Families that have already bore the brunt of the energy burden are being pushed to the brink by skyrocketing energy bills and financial uncertainty, while Exxon and Chevron make astronomical profits from a system that is driving climate destruction,” said Candice Fortin, Senior U.S. strategist.
Fortin added, “An issue that has plagued communities for decades has reached a breaking point where we have no other choice but to act. We need to take power away from polluters and into the hands of people. That means investing in clean energy, holding corporations accountable, and building systems that prioritise people and the planet over profit.”
The Great Power Shift starts here. Every dollar ExxonMobil and Chevron announce today is a dollar that could be funding clean energy, protecting families, and rebuilding the communities fossil fuels have broken. As the climate crisis intensifies, 350.org urges governments, institutions, and individuals to take decisive action and join the movement for a just energy future.
350.org is an international climate justice movement working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all. The Great Power Shift campaign connects household economic pain directly to fossil fuel profit extraction, demanding windfall taxes, subsidy phase-outs, and a just energy transition.
