Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
The tracker as it appeared at 10:50 a.m. Eastern on May 25.

As we head into the Memorial Day holiday, and move from one congressional recess to another [PDF], Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has given us something to do with our extra free time: Watch taxpayer subsidies to big oil climb higher and higher.

The clock, dubbed a STOP watch (for "Stop Taxpayer Oil Payouts"), tracks the amount of money that has flowed through a tax loophole for oil companies since the spring of 2010, when the Senate failed to close it even as the Deepwater Horizon wreck spewed crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the senator's website, "The Big 5 oil companies are raking in more than $76.00 a second" thanks to the tax loophole. That means that over $24 million will have been added to the tally after the long weekend.

You can read Menendez's press release here.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Got DOGE’d Again

Amidst uncertainty about future federal funding, Amtrak is cutting $100 million and 450 jobs.

May 9, 2025

Friday Video: Where Was the First Public Bus Route in the World?

...and which surprising historical figure helped launch it?

May 9, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Not Gonna Pay a Lot for This Truck

President Trump's tariffs, along with rising insurance costs, are driving down Americans' interest in owning a car.

May 8, 2025

How One Suburb is Using Transit to Transform Into a True City

A Washington State suburb may be poised to evolve into a true transit-oriented hub – and offer lessons for other bedroom communities, even during an anti-transit era.

May 8, 2025
See all posts