Big Oil Rally

Tax Big Oil Rally Video Footage

So there is this little thing called an Oil Severance Tax that requires oil companies pay for the oil they take from under the state's land and water. CA is the only major oil producing US State that doesn't have this tax. It is something I've had my eye on and it just makes so much sense to me, especially in light of all the struggles this state has year after year in balancing its budget. So a few large groups have decided to try to build a movement to bring attention to this idea during this year's budget cycle (CA is already behind schedule). The first action was a massive Rally in Beverly Hills last week.

So I started my trek to the rally on the 705 bus from Crensahw and King in South LA up North to Wilshire and then West on the 720 bus into Beverly Hills and UCLA territory. I don't get to that part of town too often so the gradual entrance into Beverly Hills was a little more shocking than I was expecting. For one thing all the buildings are just super glitzy and glam- gold trim and gold lettering. Glitzy apartment buildings and offices. Our little bus surrounded by a Lexus this and Corvette that. I got off the bus and stepped into a Starbucks to use the bathroom and grab some water. I stood in the bathroom line with a middle aged dad with his son that looked about eight. He handed a piece of paper to the boy with him and said, "Look, that's your savings money--do you see the money we just put in there!?" He went on to explain that was just one of his accounts and he has money in another account.

I then made my way to the Federal Building where I met up with about a thousand others (literally). I just walked across the street, but I felt I had jumped into a pool of cold water on a hot day. I had just entered a parallel universe in that space and time. The contrast from the high class Beverly Hills Image where eight year olds have multiple savings accounts to the crowd of mostly non-white working people who just want to keep their jobs and their kids in school, hit me hard like brick wall.

We were a foreign mass in that strange land. Coming from our communities and our jobs that the high powered execs in these high powered high rises never have to think about or travel to.


We marched up to the steps of Occidental Petroleum and spilled some black slime on the steps. We demanded--"Big Oil, Pay your fair share!" "It's up to the community to tax big oil"

I plan on staying involved....stay tuned for the latest... ;)

http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R2975/