Mar 21 2007
Petroleum Giant Attempts to “Greenwash” its Image
GUESTS: Mark Vallen, local artist, Laura Nader, Professor of Anthropology at UC Berkeley
On February 1st, the Chancellor of the University of California Berkeley announced an unprecedented $500 million accord with BP, formerly known as British Petroleum. The 10 year partnership will establish the Energy Biosciences Institute to research alternative biofuels and new technologies. Critics claim that the agreement was the result of an undemocratic process with no community involvement. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights wrote to the UC Board of Regents and UC Berkeley asking the officials to dissolve the deal if BP insists upon control of the program, as well as advertising and patent rights. Meanwhile, locally, BP has donated $25 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The money will go toward a costly three part renovation and expansion of LACMA’s facilities. In return, a solar panel topped entry pavilion will be named “the BP Grand Entrance.†Critics of the petroleum giant’s sponsorship of the arts see the donation and the entry dedication as nothing more than propagandistic “green washing.†Over the past few years BP has paid more than $125 million in environmentally related settlements in California alone.
Read Mark Vallen’s blog at www.art-for-a-change.com. His blog entry about LACMA can be found here: http://www.art-for-a-change.com/blog/2007/03/lacma-oil-museum.html
A group of UC Berkeley students have created a website to educate others about the BP-UCB deal, found online here: http://www.stopbp-berkeley.org/.
One Response to “Petroleum Giant Attempts to “Greenwash” its Image”
thank you so much for bringing attention to the issue. the comparison of the two stories is powerful in showing how our public spaces are becoming privatized and hopefully more attention to these issues will promote students and interested community members to action.