The announcement features original art from Emmy Award-winning artist Gary Baseman.
This week, Big Gas Polluters announced the Chevron Corporation as July’s Polluter of the Month. Chevron’s win is unsurprising given its history as a significant emitter of greenhouse gases. From 1965 to 2019, the firm was responsible for unleashing 43.35 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making it the second-most polluting company in the world, surpassed only by Saudi Aramco. To help celebrate Chevron’s big win, Emmy Award-winning artist Gary Baseman created some original art to shine a light on the fossil fuel giant’s greatest hits.
“It’s hard for folks to visualize and act on the invisible threat that is greenhouse gases”, said James Hadgis, Director of the Gas Leaks Project. “It’s why so much of our work focuses on making the unseen, visible, and there’s no better way to do that than with art. Like our award, we wanted something that captured the destructive qualities of fossil fuels while poking fun at them. Gary was the perfect collaborator for this project because he does an excellent job of combining the whimsical with an underbelly of something darker, and we are excited to launch our artist series with him.”
Just a few months ago, Chevron’s Bishop well pad in Galeton, Colorado, suffered a catastrophic blowout, during which 1,008,000 gallons of wastewater, chemicals, crude oil, and other fracking liquids spewed relentlessly for five days until contained. Over a dozen houses close to the well were evacuated, the local elementary school was temporarily closed for weeks, and at least one person was severely injured. Even those farther away weren’t safe. University of Colorado researchers detected dangerously high levels of Benzene, almost ten times the federal chronic exposure level, as far away as two miles from the site.
The Gas Leaks Project launched BigGasPolluters.org to provide credible, evidence-based information on the claims and actions of the fossil fuel industry. Included in the effort is a database documenting reported methane emissions, commitments made to reduce methane, evidence of leakage events from Earthworks, and more information about the 100 largest oil and gas companies in the US. It has never been more critical to fact-check claims regarding climate pollution, and BigGasPolluters is here to monitor methane pollution, hold the industry accountable, and serve as a resource in these uncertain times.
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