The newest piece by Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu with Crude Accountability, "Azerbaijan’s Energy Paradox: Fossil Fuel Expansion vs. Green Commitments" looks at how Azerbaijan’s aims to increase production in its oil sector contradict its renewable energy commitments.

Though Azerbaijan has taken steps towards implementing green energy projects, such as offshore wind development, solar power plants, and hydropower operations, the oil-dependent country plans to increase gas exports to the EU to counter production decline.

Dr. Ibadoghlu, a renowned Azerbaijani scholar of political economy and anti-corruption activist, is known for exposing corruption in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry. He is currently under house arrest in Baku and denied critical medical treatment.

His work in this latest blog entry explores the environmental impact of Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel production with its alarming levels of green house gas emissions, and calls out the petro-state’s lack of a clear green energy transition.

We continue to call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Ibadoghlu.

Read the blog entry.

UK lawmakers urge BP to raise the case of Dr. Ibadoghlu with the Government of Azerbaijan.

Citing BP’s significant influence and large investments in the country, the parliamentarians urge Helge Lund, the BP board chair, to use his unique position of power to raise Dr. Ibadoghlu's case with the government of Azerbaijan.

“BP enjoys a level of power in Azerbaijan that is unmatched by any other UK institution, and with that power comes clear corporate social responsibility,” says the letter from the lawmakers.

Read more.

Our friend and colleague Vadim Ni of the Save the Caspian Sea campaign was featured in a recent article by GlobalVoices. 

Ni describes the coalition of local and environmental organizations, including Crude Accountability, protecting the Caspian Sea from big oil, and how to safeguard the fragile ecosystem from further harm.

Read the full interview.

Crude Accountability is 22 years old! Now more than ever, we are committed to our founding principles of transparency, cooperation, and scientific inquiry to ensure human rights of all people, including the right to a clean environment, underlie the foundation of society.

Thank you for supporting our mission in the Caspian and Black Sea regions and beyond.

We are pleased to celebrate a significant victory for public health and environmental protection achieved by our colleagues in Ohio. 

Just weeks after their initial approval, Harrison County Commissioners have voted to reverse their decision to use toxic oil and gas waste brine for winter road treatment. After reviewing research and hearing from experts, including local environmentalists and advocates from the Ohio Brine Task Force and the Buckeye Environmental Network, officials have determined that the practice is not environmentally sound.

Learn more.

Thanks to our friends at Halt the Harm Network, we’ve learned about an exciting new tool designed to help individuals and groups find effective strategies for grassroots activism.

The Community Democracy River Toolkit by Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services is a dynamic, user-friendly resource that empowers community members, advocates, and decision-makers to tackle real-world challenges. It can help grassroot activists find legal, technical, and organizing solutions to bring a vision to action.

Learn more.