About the artwork
Shepard Fairey (Obey) - 2019 -
The “Endless Power Petrol Palace” is a celebration and critique of the seductive graphic propaganda used for the petroleum industry. I designed this print to feel like a vintage ad celebrating the abundance of America and the bright future of the American Dream. Though oil is finite, our reliance on it is so extreme that the power wielded by those who control oil is virtually unlimited. Though oil may have seemed initially to be endless, we now know the world’s oil reserves will run out eventually but more importantly, we know from thorough scientific research that the planet does not have the endless power to maintain a stable climate if oil and gas Carbon emissions (as well as from other sources) do not decrease dramatically.
Unfortunately, the U.S. government gives approximately $70 billion in tax breaks and subsidies to the highly profitable oil and gas industries. Green Energy companies only received $12 billion in subsidy because they don’t have the deep pockets of fossil fuel companies. The need to fund new, renewable technologies, should be obvious when the rapidly depleting oil and gas sources become more difficult and dangerous to extract each passing day. The only reason the government subsidies are so disproportionate is because of the massive power the dying oil and gas industry still has.
Here is the challenge: our lifestyle cannot survive without oil and gas, but our planet cannot survive with their use remaining anywhere close to current levels. Unless we cultivate renewables, we are heading for a tipping point that will be potentially irreversible and unquestionably devastating. A portion of proceeds from “Endless Power Petrol Palace” will be donated to 350.org to support the work they do fighting climate change.
-Shepard
Endless Power Petrol Palace in Blue on cream Speckletone paper. 18 x 24 inches. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 350.
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