Big Oil/Coal Censor Art

“Carbon Sink,” by Chris Drury

It seems that oil and coal executives around Laramie, Wyoming are particularly thin skinned. When British artist Chris Drury installed a 36-foot-diameter sculpture, called “Carbon Sink," at the University of Wyoming, a bitter battle ensued.

Local lawmakers and officials in Wyoming’s energy industry, which helps support the university through state taxes, felt betrayed.  State Representative Thomas E. Lubnau II threatened to introduce legislation that would ensure that “no fossil-fuel-derived tax dollars find their way in the University of Wyoming funding stream.” The university removed the sculpture citing water damage — an irrigation line had broken in the area.

“I’m disappointed that the university caved in to that sort of extortion and that sort of implied threat,” said Dr. Jeff Lockwood, a professor of natural sciences and humanities. “And I’m angry that this sort of behavior on the part of private industry, as well as their effectiveness in lobbying our elected officials, would lead to an act of artistic censorship on a university campus.”

Here's link to the New York Times article that gives the whole picture.