A small group of climate activists with Last Chance Alliance gathered at several gas stations across the state to protest and draw attention to the profits that oil companies are making while Californians struggle to pay at the pump.
Two local protests took place on Monday, November 28, at 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Chevron stations at 3180 Broad St, in San Luis Obispo, and at 115 S. LaCumbre Rd. in Santa Barbara.
Heidi Harmon, former mayor of San Luis Obispo and the current Senior Public Affairs Director with Let’s Green California, was in attendance at the San Luis Obispo protest.
"We're out here advocating that while we're still having to use fossil fuels for driving, we don't want the people that can afford it the least to be impacted the most by the fossil fuel industry's greed,” Harmon said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a special legislative session on December 5 to consider a windfall profits cap and price gouging rebate for California consumers.
Oil companies and refineries recently released their third-quarter reports to reveal record profits from July to September.
According to a press release from the Office of Gov. Newsom:
- Phillips 66 profits jumped to $5.4 billion, a 1243% increase over last year’s $402 million.
- BP posted $8.2 billion in profits, its second highest on record, with $2.5 billion going towards share buybacks that benefit Wall Street investors.
- Marathon Petroleum's profits rose to $4.48 billion, a 545% increase over last year’s $694 million.
Climate activists at Monday's protests said they support Newsom’s push to cap oil companies' profits.
