Chevron's hometown paper is quiet on climate. Guess who owns it?
Children were starting to stream out of Peres Elementary School in Richmond, California, as activist Katt Ramos pointed towards a plume of smoke in the distance. Ramos is an activist who, at the time, helped to lead the Richmond chapter of Communities for a Better Environment. She was standing outside of the school in the Iron Triangle, the local name for a part of town defined by three railway tracks. The smoke was emanating from the vast Chevron refinery that borders the elementary school.
Chevron is Richmond’s largest employer—and its largest polluter. When it flares hazardous gases, or when mysterious, sulfurous smells suffuse the city, there is no daily newspaper to report on health concerns or keep residents in the know. The primary local news site, the Richmond Standard, largely avoids covering local health issues or the impact of Chevron’s facilities on people’s well-being. Perhaps because the site is owned by Chevron itself.
Given Richmond’s status as a news desert, most people here have come to accept the lack of deeply investigated stories, the kind that help keep corporations accountable. But plenty of locals are deeply aware of the implications of living in proximity to the refinery, and, like Ramos, have turned to their own activism and organizing. I spent time in Richmond interviewing and photographing local people, including former Chevron employees, activists, reporters, and politicians.
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/03/chevron-refinery-richmond-standard-pulse-climate-pollution/
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