Can you spare $11 billion for big oil?
Sorry, I didn’t bring my wallet …
On Saturday August 4th, activists from 350ma and Occupy Boston met in Dewey Square, to hold a little fundraiser for big oil. Why a fundraiser? Washington gives big oil, coal, and gas roughly $11 billion in subsidies and tax cuts each year, and there’s talk of trimming some of that back. Cutting these subsidies would be a (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) job killing travesty; so, we went out and canvassed the sidewalks, chatted up people on corners, and panhandled in the street.
But wait … oil is modern day miracle. It’s in everything
I own, right down to my shoelaces.
Don’t get us wrong, we’ve got nothing against people tying their shoes. In fact, we think that tying your shoes is a darn good idea. But we do take issue with petroleum spilling onto our coastline, pollution spreading across out atmosphere, and CO2 warming our planet. Yes, oil is cheap (and heavily subsidized), but it’s also a finite, non-renewable resource. Eventually we will have to find something else to help us get our shoes tied.
Who do you work for? I’m a Scott Brown supporter.
I suppose that’s a reason to support big oil. Scott Brown supports big oil, and big oil supports Scott Brown — to the tune of $227,860 so far. And this has been a good investment for big oil; Scott Brown voted to protect big oil subsidies, and voted to gut portions of the Clean Air Act that might hurt big oil’s profitability. Maybe Senator Brown has a point. The oil industry only made $137 billion in 2011, while the rest of our nation’s economy was floundering.
By the time the event was over, we had given away a few dozen baked goods, and collected a full $0.95 for big oil. We hope that Shell, BP, and Exxon Mobile appreciate our efforts.
Here are a few photos of the event. You can find more photos at 350ma.org.
