print10 Things You Gotta Know about Crude Accountability
1. Crude Accountability is the only nonprofit organization in the United States focused on environmental justice for petroleum communities in the vast Caspian Sea region, comprising Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan.
2. Crude Accountability launches environmental justice campaigns in the region only upon invitation by local citizens. And we conduct each and every step of our campaigns closely with these local partners—those who are facing environmental injustice firsthand are the ones who know what is best for their communities.
3. Thanks to Crude Accountability’s campaign to stop construction of the Russkiy Mir oil and gas terminal on Russia’s Taman Peninsula, construction at the site has come to a complete standstill since November 2007.
4. As a result of an official complaint by Crude Accountability, the World Bank Group found its private lending arm out of compliance with air emissions monitoring standards at the Karachaganak oil and gas field in Kazakhstan.
5. Crude Accountability publishes in-depth analysis on the impact of the petroleum industry in the Caspian region, most recently producing a one-of-a-kind report on the environmental threats and geopolitical stakes involved in hydrocarbon development in Turkmenistan. Read “Turkmenistan’s Crude Awakening: Oil, Gas and Environment in the South Caspian”.
6. Crude Accountability boasts a Board of Directors from the United States and the Caspian Sea region, with expertise in corporate accountability, nonprofit development, media outreach, environmental science, and regional politics.
7. Crude Accountability’s staff—operating out of the Washington, DC and Los Angeles metro areas—has been working in the former Soviet Union, with a focus on environmental issues in Central Asia and the Caucasus, since the early 1990s.
8. Crude Accountability’s staff is trained in the United States EPA-recognized Bucket Brigade air monitoring methodology, enabling us to participate in an international monitoring network with communities from Ohio to California, Ireland to India, and now including Crude Accountability’s partners in Kazakhstan and Russia. Click here to see how the bucket works!
9. Crude Accountability does not accept funding from the petroleum industry. All of our funding comes from individuals and private foundations. You can join us! To contribute to and become a partner in Crude Accountability’s fight for environmental justice, click here!
10. Why should you care? The US consumes 25% of the world’s oil demand, although we comprise only 4 percent of the world’s population. In 2008 alone, Chevron—one of the major US oil companies in the Caspian region—took home a record $23.9 billion profit, while people in the Caspian region—moms and dads, sisters and brothers, grandparents and grandchildren—breathed in toxins, leading to a host of chronic illnesses.