‘These Are Fossil Fuel Disasters’: Climate Protest Targets Chevron After LA Fires

Updated 4:15 p.m. Friday

In the wake of horrific wildfires in Los Angeles, more than 50 climate justice protesters rallied outside the Chevron refinery in Richmond on Friday to demand the oil company take accountability for its role in the climate crisis.

“The news typically calls wildfires natural disasters. But at this point, these are fossil fuel disasters,” said Finn Does, an organizer with the youth-led Sunrise Movement. “The reason why 100,000 people have had to evacuate, the reason why over 12,000 homes and buildings have burned is because of the burning of fossil fuels.”

The action followed another Sunrise Movement protest in Los Angeles on Thursday outside the Phillips 66 oil facility, where more than a dozen activists stormed an office building on the premises. Police eventually escorted protesters off the site without making any arrests, the Los Angeles Times reported.

By contrast, the Bay Area demonstration remained just outside the gates to the Chevron refinery. Demonstrators initially planned to enter and occupy the site, organizer Ariela Lara said, but ultimately, they decided against that escalation.

“We’re very proud to see all of our organizers and friends that did put their bodies on the line back in Los Angeles. It’s something that we would have not been afraid to do today,” Lara said.

Protesters marched from Washington Park in Point Richmond under Interstate 580 to the refinery gates, where Richmond police and Chevron security were waiting. However, there were no arrests or altercations — police instead spent their time observing and corralling traffic around the demonstration.

Signs and banners included phrases like “The Climate Crisis Is Here,” “End the Fossil Fuel Era” and “Make Big Oil Pay.”

Chants were occasionally interrupted by honks of approval from passing traffic — including from drivers of gas and fuel tank trucks.

“One thing that we really need to understand is that climate justice is labor justice,” Does said. “And to see folks who work in this industry support us shows to me that obviously [fossil fuel companies] don’t care about their own workers’ lives.”

The main demand from protesters is for Chevron to pay $20 billion toward wildfire recovery in Los Angeles.

“Chevron had done a lot of research on what was bound to happen when they were going to continue burning fossil fuels, and what would happen is that climate disasters would get more and more severe. They knew the consequences of this, and they continued on,” Lara said. “They need to pay up for the disasters that we have seen in L.A.”

In their wake, demonstrators left a mural at the Gate 31 entrance to the refinery that read “Make Big Oil Pay” and “Chevron Profits; LA Burns” with a scene of flames engulfing hills and homes surrounded by palm trees.

Speakers at the rally also drew comparisons between the climate crisis and the war in Gaza, denouncing Chevron’s business activity in Israel.

Residents of Richmond are familiar with the harmful environmental impacts of the refinery in their backyard. The facility frequently flares and releases toxic gas over neighborhoods. In April, Chevron reached a settlement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and paid out $20 million to settle 678 separate air quality violations between 2019 and 2023.

Chevron’s Richmond refinery said in a statement that it “respects the right of individuals to express their viewpoints peacefully and lawfully.”

“Today, Los Angeles is on fire. Tomorrow, it could be the Bay Area,” Does said. “What we’re trying to do is draw the connection between our cities across the West Coast to say that when one is on fire, it could be the Bay Area the next day.”