Instead of begging oil executives to start playing nice, Democrats need to start holding them accountable and delivering for working people.

Yes, President Biden has criticized oil and gas companies’ massive profits, but unlike other governments around the world, his administration has so far refused to endorse the one action that would actually hold Big Oil accountable -- a windfall profits tax.

Instead the Biden administration’s latest proposal is a gas tax holiday. Never mind that a gas tax holiday is estimated to save drivers less than $5 a month, while slashing $10 billion in funding over 3 months that maintains our roads and bridges. It would also be one more handout to oil and gas companies by encouraging people to drive more.

The oil industry is not delivering a product that’s twice as good as it was in 2019. They are just profiting off of war and scarcity, riding record high prices so they can deliver huge dividends to their shareholders and pump billions of dollars in stock buybacks -- a Wall Street scam that increases CEO pay at the expense of investments in workers, innovation, and workplace safety.

Watch More Perfect Union’s exclusive reporting on the real way to stop Big Oil price gouging the way it’s done everywhere else: a windfall profits tax with direct rebates to help working families. Then sign our petition to President Biden to join the fight.

Let’s look at the United Kingdom to see what’s possible: Every household in the UK receives a £400 discount on their energy bill -- roughly $480 dollars. On top of that, the 9 million poorest households get another £650 (about $775) as a direct payment. Pensioners and people with disabilities get even more. All of those payments are funded, in part, by a 25% surcharge on the windfall profits of oil and gas companies.

It’s not just the UK.

In Italy, a 10% windfall profits tax was raised to 25% to help families keep their energy bills around where they were in 2021, while also providing about $200 in direct payments to poorer families and investing in renewable energy. In Spain, a windfall tax was passed all the way back in September of 2021, allowing them to reduce the value added tax on energy bills from 21% down to 10%. Romania and Bulgaria also designed their own versions of the tax.

All of these countries have one thing in common: they’re spending big to provide tangible inflation relief for working people, and they’re using excess oil and gas profits to do it.

The Biden administration must follow in the footsteps of the U.K., Spain and Italy, and deliver real relief.

Sign our petition to the president demanding he fight for a windfall profits tax plan with direct rebates to consumers like the one authored by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse now.