The last fossil fuel crisis caused incredible amounts of pain for the people of Europe. In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, gas prices skyrocketed, resulting in the costs of energy rising to cripplingly high levels. Every European Union citizen overpaying for their fossil gas and power sent 150 euros ($175) to the United States per year, according to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).That pain meant unprecedented profits for fossil fuel companies. In 2023, the world’s oil and gas industry earned a whopping $2.7 trillion, and invested just 4 percent of its capital expenditure in clean energy.These crises are moments of extreme injustice. Not only are people paying a price for fossil fuel use through the immediate climate impacts, but they are now suffering through increasingly frequent price crises where meals are skipped, jobs are lost, and lights are turned off. This public dip in conditions and cost of living runs parallel to an upwards swing for fossil fuel companies’ blood profits.The least governments can do at this moment is impose a windfall tax on energy companies and use the proceeds to cushion the blow to households and fund an energy transition.As was the case in 2022, the resurgence of fossil fuel company mega-profits we are seeing now has come about as the direct consequence of bloody c …
