Last Thursday, March 4, was a huge day for student and youth activism in California.
Thousands upon thousands of students, labor unions, grandparents, entire elementary school classrooms, teachers, and concerned Californians (like me!) across the state rallied, marched, and generally rose some hell, to beat back massive tuition hikes and budget cuts to our state’s already fragile public education system.
Many of the thousands of students marching across California were the same students and youth who rallied just one year ago at Power Shift ’09 in DC for clean energy and bold climate policies. At both events, I was inspired by how diverse, creative and powerful youth movements can be. And how hard we have to work to sustain momentum and actualize the possibilities presented at these key moments.
Can California students (and faculty and Californians) build a movement powerful enough in the next few months to take on Chevron + Big Oil and give California students the right to quality, affordable education?
This should be the question on every California climate/clean energy activist’s mind and the topic of discussion in every student group meeting this week.
California student activists have an exciting (and challenging) opportunity to tap into one of the most exciting California student uprisings in recent decades and direct some of the energy into an absolutely win-win situation where Big Oil has to pay and our public education system is saved.
The details of this are slightly complex but easily explained by Rebecca Tarbotton on The San Francisco Chronicle:
“If oil companies in our state paid their fair share, students could afford college and we could begin to close our massive budget deficit.
California is the 3rd largest oil producing state in the nation, and yet the ONLY oil producing state in the United States without an extraction tax. Texas has an extraction tax, Louisiana has a 12.5% tax, even Sarah Palin increased Alaska’s oil severance tax (upwards of 25%) to pay for education programs. It’s time that California joins the rest of the US, imposes a tax on oil companies for removing our state’s resources, and uses the funds for real education finance reform.
In California we have a $20 billion dollar deficit. Massive tuition hikes and cutting education programs will not stimulate the California economy, but forcing our oil companies to pay a fair and reasonable tax could.
Lawmakers in Sacramento and voters across the state are ready for these oil companies to step up their responsibility to the residents of California. Assemblymember Alberto Torrico, supported by the California Faculty Association and the University of California Students Association, introduced a solution-based bill – AB 656 – that would generate $2 billion a year for higher education by instilling a 12% tax on the extraction of oil and gas in California.
And this is where common sense politics meets corporate power.
Chevron is our state’s largest oil corporation, our state’s largest employer, and our state’s largest (and richest) barrier to saving our education system.
Big Oil will spare no amount of money to defeat AB 656. In 2006, a similar battle unfolded over Prop 87, which would have put just a 6% tax on the oil industry which could have raised $485 million for the state. Big Oil – led by Chevron – poured truly epic amounts of money into defeating the proposition. The oil industry spent more than $45 million in what became a historic spending spree on a single campaign. Chevron has a long history of bullying elections with their deep pockets, and depriving our state of much needed resources.”
Passing AB 656 will be no small task. If the battle over Prop 87 is any indicator, Chevron and the rest of Big Oil will try every dirty trick in the book to outspend, outlobby, and confuse California voters.
But California students have done the impossible before. California students have a long history of successfully fighting for the good (civil rights, immigrants rights, clean energy) and against the bad (Vietnam, apartheid).
In 2003, California students in the University of California system made history by passing the most comprehensive clean energy and green building policy of its kind. During my time at Energy Action Coalition I met so many inspiring California youth activists who were doing amazing work to create green jobs, increase clean energy investments, push politicians to pass bold climate policies both in our state and nationally.
If California students and voters are going to protect our interests against our state’s largest, most polluting corporation – Chevron – we’re going to have start working together now. And we’re going to have start working hard. The Courage Campaign has already teamed up with California Faculty Association and the University of California Students Association to pass AB 656.
Who’s with me in making sure that in November 2010 Chevron and its Big Oil buddies know they can’t bully our state and our communities any longer and must pay their fair share?
This is exactly the fusion of energies that this movement needs. Good work!
This is such a great example of two extremely progressive movements finding common ground and joining forces to accomplish even more together. I look forward hearing more about this exciting campaign in future!
Lets make it happen! The inter-networking is abysmally weak as of now. These are two inseparable struggles, along with many others! Its not a coincidence that all of this is intertwined… corporate capitalismmmmmm
I love that we are making these connections, but think we want to be careful.
There would be little disagreement among both movements that elites – including corporate polluters – should pay their fair share to fund education. Nor would either movement object to de-funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for that matter, and diverting the money into education. These would be welcome outcomes.
But need to be cautious in approaching other movements due to a historical tensions of power and privilege. It could prove seriously divisive and counter-productive if relatively privileged groups of climate activists suggest the UC movement to defend education become a fight against an oil company, not for the fundamental right of people to access education. I’m not saying that’s what’s being called for here necessarily, but I see a danger it could be received that way. If not done thoughtfully and carefully, calling for education actions against Chevron could be seen by education rights organizers as yet another movement takeover by more privileged groups trying to put their issue at the head of the parade after the work’s been done, not as solidarity.
Linking movements takes time and deliberate relationship building, and those relationships need to be built yesterday. I think this piece shows great vision by identifying an opportunity to build and deepen those connections. I just want to be sure climate activists who act on this suggestion remember the importance of taking leadership from Educations Rights activists during their high point of mobilization.