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.

With the killing of an unarmed Latino man this past week, and attacks on unarmed women and children protesters with dogs and rubber bullets, there is a call for national solidarity with Anaheim on Friday, 7/27, at 8 pm. People will be meeting at the lawn by the Park Street T stop at 6 pm to plan an action for 8 pm. The 8pm action will start from that same location.

See details at: http://occupywallst.org/article/everywhere-is-anaheim/

Other references:

• http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/07/24/18718217.php
• https://www.facebook.com/events/111685855643272/
• http://act.presente.org/sign/anaheimbrutality(petition)
• http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/24/police_brutality_in_anaheim_sparks_outrage

Last week, Occupy Boston held another Going out of Business Bake Sale for Bank of America. It was a small action, but done with theatrics and a sense of humor. Aproned street vendors handed out cookies and brownies; folks in suits passed out fliers; and a few demonstrators held banners and bantered back and fourth, taunting Bank of America.

I’ve always enjoyed taking part in demonstrations like this, partly for of the theatrics, and partly for the range of responses you get from people passing by. On one hand, I could see that the demonstration really resonated with some people. We got smiles, nods, friendly waves, and the occasional “yeah!” shout out. There’s a lesson in that — even if they’re not taking to the streets, there are plenty of people who aren’t happy with Bank America, and the way that banks have trashed our country’s economy.

And then there were reactions from the other side of the fence. One fellow dressed in a suit and tie took a flier, took a brownie, and paused for a moment to read the flier. He stood still for a few seconds, grimaced, wrapped the flier around the brownie, and flung it on the ground. We clearly touched some sort of nerve there. I could picture him as someone in Bank of America’s marketing department, trying to sell their crooked business practices to anyone foolhardy enough to listen.

Finally, there were the mixed reactions to the banter. “Be a patriot and help bail out the United Bank of America” raised eyebrows, while “Bank of America bought Countrywide, and now they need all the help they can get” seemed to make people a tad anxious. “Banks got bailed out, they need more dough” drew chuckles.

All in all, it was a good afternoon. Stay tuned — we’re planning more bank actions this summer.