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Several activist groups joined together in protest outside Chevron headquarters in San Ramon on Tuesday afternoon, calling for an end to subsidies for oil companies. Part of a national week of action, Tuesday’s protest was held in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street demonstrations held across the country and throughout the Bay Area.
“The Wall Street protest isn’t just in Manhattan,” said Tri-Valley Democratic Club President Ellis Goldberg.
The two-day protest aims to bring to light how oil companies are not paying their fair share by benefiting from oil subsidies. Chevron is the fourteenth most profitable company in the United States, the Danville resident said, and they are benefiting immensely from its lobbying group, The American Petroleum Institute.
“I’m not looking for Chevron to say anything. We are not lobbying Chevron, we are lobbying Congress,” Goldberg said. “The reason we’re in front of Chevron is because they’re big oil and that’s the place to be lobbing about oil subsidies. We don’t expect them to quit the API or get them to stop lobbying for loopholes.”
Other protesters, including San Ramon resident Bridgett Guzzi, said they hope Chevron uses the protest as an opportunity to lead the charge in new practices in the oil business.
“Chevron has an opportunity today to lead not only America but the world by being the first of big oil to embrace change,” she said. “All other big oil would have to follow and help save our planet.”
Chevron and other oil companies will receive $44 billion in federal subsidies over the next five years and protesters believe that money should be used to fund President Obama’s jobs bill.
“Here we are giving welfare to an oil company that’s one of the richest companies in the world, when there are people who are hungry and don’t have jobs,” said Karen Beck, an organizer with the Tri-Valley MoveOn Council. “The middle class is being asked to give and we’re not sure about what we’ll see. There is no shared sacrifice.”
Still, Chevron officials maintain that the company pays more than its fair share of taxes. Changing tax provisions for companies like Chevron would restrain domestic development and reduce tax revenues, said Chevron Media Advisor Sean Comey.
“Between 2005 and 2009, our industry paid or accrued to the U.S. government almost $158 billion in taxes, royalties and fees, including $98 billion in federal income taxes. That totals nearly $86 million a day,” he said. “A lot of what you’re hearing today is inaccurate or misleading.”
Comey said Chevron and the 40-some protesters that picketed along Bollinger Canyon Road actually have common ground — both groups want more jobs.
“At this company, if we prosper, we create more jobs and help lift us out of this economic climate,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is look at policies that would encourage development, what we need is more access to energy, not higher taxes.”
Although Leo Mara doesn’t believe Comey’s rhetoric, the Livermore resident said the San Ramon protest and others like it aren’t necessarily aimed at specific companies.
“I think it’s about greed in general. I’m here more to say that I think Obama needs to stop being a compromiser and stand up and fight (Republicans) because they’re fighting him,” Mara said.
Last May, the Senate voted on the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, S. 940, which would eliminate $21 billion of tax loopholes over the next decade for the five largest oil companies and send recovered money to the U.S. Treasury to bridge the budget deficit. The legislation was blocked due to American Petroleum Institute lobbying.
Another protest will be held at 6121 Bollinger Canyon Road on Wednesday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. Protesters will also gather outside Bank of America in Walnut Creek on Wednesday evening.
“We’re energize and we’re going back tomorrow. We got a lot of good, positive people today and even some people coming out of Chevron gave us the thumbs up,” Beck said.
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Danville resident Ellis Goldberg with the “subsidy sucker.” Photo by Jessica Lipsky. -
Danville resident Lois Flood and San Ramon resident Bridgett Guzzi protest along Bollinger Canyon Road. Photo by Jessica Lipsky. -
Photo by Jessica Lipsky. -
Photo by Jessica Lipsky. -
(From left) Ellis Goldberg, Lois Flood and Leo Mara. Photo by Jessica Lipsky. -
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Photo by Jessica Lipsky.
Heading home from Target at around 11:30 am, I saw about 25 people protesting and didn’t hear anyone honking in support.
Accrued taxes are not the same thing as taxes paid. The total of accrued and paid is meaningless in this context. Companies must accrue based on the laws and standards, but can negate having to pay the accrued amount in numerous, legal ways. Nice bit of mis-direction.
Dear Editor,
By the title of this article readers must assume this is an editorial rather than fair and balanced journalism. Your obligation is to illustrate the issues in question raised in protest with the perspective of all sides of such issues. Simply answer the questions, 1) does subsidies support our energy needs and development of alternative energy?, 2) does Chevron enjoy excessive profits based on subsidies and tax allowances? 3) does Chevron provide community engagement and support important to our region? 4) is Chevron an important employer in our region?
Journalism is not displayed in use of “subsidy sucking” and real journalism would be very welcome.
In the fall the nuts ripen and fall off the trees!
There there… there there…
“Subsidy sucking” refers to a chant and display protesters participated in on Tuesday afternoon. There is a picture of the “subsidy sucker” on our photos page. This fact was made clear in a recent article (http://danvilleexpress.com/news/show_story.php?id=6476) – apologies for not being clearer in this latest story.
Jessica Lipsky
Editor
Fact is that the oil industry is one of the most heavily subsidized industries in the United States. Refer to this article from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/business/04bptax.html
Attention: “Duffy’s Mother”
Thank you, thank you. Most readers tell me I have no mother!
Duffy
These local protestors want subsidized money to go to Obama’s Job Bill which is much like his Stimulus Bill that did absolutely NOTHING to help the economy or create jobs! Obama’s Job Bill will cost texpayers over $200,000 per job!!! Obama only knows how to “spend”! Americans are tightening their belts, so shouldn’t the government do the same? I’m tired of watching Obama campaign around the country and take fancy trips on “US”, the taxpayer’s backs! Maybe if government stopped interfering with business and let capitalism take over the economy would improve!!! He’s adding more regulations and taxes to small businesses, so why would they want to hire new employees?!! Another 4 yrs. with Obama and we can kiss this country goodbye!
Mike,
Can you name one federal subsidy Chevron receives? It doesn’t matter which one. Just name one. Odds are you can’t. That NYT’s article you posted didn’t name one either. I doubt any of these protesters can either.
Likewise, Jessica’s article doesn’t inform the reader what’s these protesters consider a “subsidy.”
Apparently they consider ordinary and necessary business deductions and credits as “a subsidy.”
By that rationale, if Chevron hired someone and claimed a tax deduction for that person’s salary, would they consider that tax deduction “a subsidy?”
Chris,
Chevron cannot defer U.S. tax on its U.S. source income. It must pay such tax to the U.S. govt. on a quarterly basis, otherwise it will incur a penalty. You are incorrect that Chevron can, “negate having to pay the accrued amount in numerous, legal ways.”
Perhaps you are referring to deferring U.S. tax on foreign source income. This is a common practice for companies in the high tech, pharmaceutical, and other low-taxed industries. They keep their earnings parked offshore in tax havens in order to defer paying U.S. tax. Thus, they have an overall effective tax rate of around 26%, far below the 35% U.S. statutory tax rate. They can keep those earnings offshore and effectively never pay U.S. tax on it.
In contrast, Chevron, like most oil companies, is subject to high income tax rates around the world, generally over 40%, so their overall effective tax rate is generally above the 35% U.S. tax rate. Thus, oil companies are generally not deferring U.S. tax on their foreign oil and gas income, because their earnings have already been taxed at a rate above the U.S. rate.
If you want to protest profitable companies not paying their “fair share” of taxes, you should go across the bay to companies like Google, Apple, and Cisco, all of which enjoy U.S. tax deferral and effective tax rates far below the 35% U.S. tax rate. They also enjoy R&D tax credits and many other so-called tax subsidies.
Of course, protesting Google probably doesn’t fit neatly in your anti-oil paradigm.
I am going to take a wild guess that most of the people protesting put Obama in office. If true, you only have yourselves to thank for the bad economic situation we are in. Like CW said, another 4 years of him and we can kiss this country goodbye!
These protestors are economic illiterates. I blame our education system for people like this in our society.
Personally, I don’t think the government should be in the business of providing subsidies to any industry including energy (or agriculture). Government subsidies drive capital to less efficient uses hurting our overall economy. The energy subsidies are in place to keep investment in the United States. Without them, capital invested by these energy companies will go overseas where projects with better financial returns are available. Chevron invests about $25 Billion per year in its global business.
When these protestors attack companies like Chevron, they attack the 100+ Million Americans who are shareholders through their savings in IRA/401K mutual funds. They attack Chevron’s 55,000 employees. They attack the thousands of companies that supply goods & services to the energy industry … and they attack the general public who must pay higher prices for energy if the company’s cost of doing business increases.
Jessica,
Thank you for the story and photos showing the “Occupy Wall Street” movement spreading to the San Ramon Valley.
Dear Editor,
The picture appearing with the story on the Express website illustrates thinking that disconnected. In humor, it seems to answer “how many furlongs in a fortnight? with connecting two issues as one oxymoron. The challenge to your journalism is to provide in-depth review of issues portrayed and if they exist as a collective issue to our domestic economy and our global economic role.
Global news services are covering this movement’s purposeful ignorance of global economics with detailed review of what is missing from the approach of these demonstrators. Such news service coverage provides you the resources for telling a complete story to very-savvy professionals that are the majority of our region’s residents. To your readers this is more than an event or any display of your personal position and provides EMCEB the opportunity to serve readers with in-depth presentation of issues surrounding these demonstrations.
May we look forward to your journalism?