Audio by title tax_subsidies_for_big_oil_companies

Jason Box is an associate professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at the Ohio State University. He was part of a protest in front of the Columbus offices of Senator Rob Portman, one of six Republicans on the now defunct Super Committee.

“We stand here…calling for a reduction in oil subsidies. That connects with this issue of increasing reliance on fossil fuels at a time when that needs to decrease,” Box said.

He said environmental issues are appropriately part of Occupy.

“The Occupy Movement and environmentalism go together because these are both justice movements. It’s economic justice and environmental justice.”

Box agreed this and other industrial societies can not quit fossil fuels cold turkey, but he said subsidies and other investments should support moving toward cleaner, renewable energy sources.

“ I hear proponents for hydro-fracturing talking about the urgency to invest in that technology. But that’s a carbon-intensive technology and it does other damage to the environment. Where is the rhetoric coming from industry about the need to invest in clean energy ? It’s pretty obvious that we need wind, solar, and even biofuels. These are the technologies that deserve subsidies and investment,” Box said.

Box agreed energy security is a real concern. But he said politicians often talk about that issue as a way to call for promoting fossil fuels, without including cleaner, more renewable sources of energy.