A dozen demonstrators stood in front of a Valero station Tuesday in downtown Walnut Creek and made the case for ending government subsidies to major oil companies.

"People in Contra Costa County pay twice for a gallon of gas," said Sean Carroll of Environment California. "They pay at the pump and they pay for the subsidies."

This is the time for Congress to act, said Sean Carroll of Environment California. While lawmakers are debating President Obama's jobs bill, there is renewed talk of cutting Medicare and social programs, Carroll noted.

The subsidies are $44 billion, according to Environment California.

Mary Alice O'Connor, executive director of the Mount Diablo Peace Center in Walnut Creek, raised her voice to the small crowd, straining over the roar of auto engineers speeding by on Ygnacio Valley Road.
"Are we going to continue to subsidize our demise?" she asked.
The event was held across the street from the Walnut Creek office of Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat, whom Carroll called a "champion" for his advocacy against oil subsidies.

Garamendi aide Brian Hooker read a note from the congressman, who is in Washington monitoring the jobs bill debate, he said.

"While Californians struggle with high gas prices, Big Oil has already made over $67 billion in profits in the first half of 2011," Hooker said.

The text of Garamendi's statement follows:

I wish I could join you today, but I'm back in Washington. You may have heard that the President last week introduced a critical jobs bill - the American Jobs Act - that we must pass to put people back to work.
The President's plan is good policy, and it includes some needed investments that people in this audience will be glad to see - things like clean energy, public transportation, and water recycling.
The President has also made it clear that he wants the American Jobs Act to paid for as part of a grand deficit reduction package. We need to be serious about responsibly paying down the deficit over a five to ten year period of time.

Which brings me to the topic at hand. I believe it is foolish to find savings as some have proposed - by ending commonsense environmental regulations, by cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits, by laying off teachers, by cutting off funds to needed infrastructure - when we can easily save $44 billion right now by ending wasteful subsidies to Big Oil.

While Californians struggle with high gas prices, Big Oil has already made over $67 billion in profits in the first half of 2011. Instead of throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at one of most profitable industries on Earth - having virtually no impact on a market where gas prices are largely dictated on the international market anyway - we need to break our addiction to dirty fossil fuels instead.
So that's where I'm coming from, and you can be confident I will continue to fight day in and day out to end wasteful Big Oil subsidies.

Thank you for being here today, and thank you Environment California for organizing this rally. It's a lot easier to do my work here in the district and back in Washington when I know committed and thoughtful people like those here in attendance today have my back. Thank you once again.