Today, Fossil Free Media’s Stop The Oil Profiteering campaign launched a series of billboards in Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona and Fresno, California calling out Big Oil for its role in fueling the climate change-induced extreme heat that has plagued the country and claimed more than a hundred lives this summer. The billboard features a weather report with record high temperatures and reads “Brought to You by Big Oil.”
July was the world’s hottest month on record, and the extreme temperatures continue to stay throughout August.
“From Alaska to Maui, our communities are struggling to survive the rapidly worsening impacts of the climate crisis, all the while, Big Oil is raking in billions at our expense,” said Cassidy DiPaola, spokesperson for Fossil Free Media and Stop the Oil Profiteering. “There’s no denying that this summer’s brutal heat waves are being fueled by the same Big Oil companies who are spreading climate disinformation and blocking much needed climate progress.”
For decades, scientists have called attention to the connection between climate change and extreme weather, warning that marginalized and low-income communities and communities of color will be the first to experience their deadly impacts if leaders fail to act. Yet, oil companies are continuing to profit in record numbers and oil-backed politicians in Washington are continuing to back them. In quarter two alone, ExxonMobil brought in $7.9 billion in profits, its second-best April-June in over a decade.
“Texans are paying 800% more to cool their homes during the extreme heat that blankets our state. This means choosing between food on the table or cooling your home to mitigate health impacts from the sweltering heat while big oil profits,” stated Jennifer Falcon, a resident of Austin, Texas where one of the billboards is located.
The campaign, which also launched an ad buy alongside the billboards, featuring a video highlighting extreme weather events from this summer including the smoke that took over New York City and parts of the East Coast, calls on people to join activists in New York City for a march to end fossil fuels.
This September 17, thousands are expected to join the “March to End Fossil Fuels” in New York City to pressure President Biden to hold Big Oil accountable and declare a climate emergency ahead of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit. It will be the largest climate action since before the pandemic and has received endorsements from U.N leaders, world renowned activists, and celebrities across the globe.
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.