Drilled

The Carbon Gold Rush

Tue, 12 May 2026 04:01:00 +0000

As his American company Summit Carbon Solutions struggles with backlash to a carbon capture pipeline linking corn ethanol plants across the Midwest, Bruce Rastetter is not slowing down. Instead, he’s celebrating some big wins for his Brazilian company, FS Fueling Sustainability, from new ethanol-friendly climate policy to government funding for their carbon capture project.

Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

Additional resources:

The link between corn ethanol and deforestation

Peer-reviewed research on the climate problems associated with corn ethanol

An explainer on BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration)

Reading list on enhanced oil recovery (EOR)

Carbon Herald on the push to connect Midwest ethanol plants to carbon capture

Brazilian government document on technical mission to US midwest

Travel schedule of Brazilian government officials while in the Midwest

Read more about the explosion of corn ethanol in Brazil: https://drilled.media/news/ethanol-story1

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Welcome to Carbon Cowboys

Tue, 05 May 2026 04:01:00 +0000

For decades we’ve heard that “the markets” will solve the climate crisis. On Drilled: Carbon Cowboys, we put that theory to the test, following Bruce Rastetter, a corn ethanol kingpin-turned-carbon entrepreneur from Iowa to Brazil, and asking the big questions: Are these “climate solutions” actually reducing emissions? Is CO2 increasing or decreasing as carbon becomes a commodity? Or is green colonialism just as extractive as the regular sort?

Drilled: Carbon Cowboys begins on May 12th. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

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Fossil-fueled Fascism

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:01:00 +0000

The U.S. invasions of Venezuela and Iran are more of the same imperialism in service of oil majors. As the climate crisis makes its presence more urgently felt, fossil fascism dictates a doubling-down on extraction and colonialism, and the vilification of those who oppose or stand in the way of that plan.

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On Petromasculinity and Protest

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 04:01:00 +0000

Repression of protest has ramped up in the U.S., but everything that's happening now began with the backlash to the Standing Rock protest back in 2016. In today's episode we look at the connections between fossil fascism, petromasculinity, and protest.

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Never Let a War Go to Waste

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:15:00 +0000

Lots of people are talking about the similarities between Iraq and Iran, but in this episode we place the two in the context of another war—World War I—and the historical arc of fossil fascism.

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Drilling Deep: Karen Hao on How Big AI Is Gambling with the Planet’s Chips

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 04:01:00 +0000

What is “artificial intelligence”? Is it a fancy technology? A management consulting buzzword? A PR effort to inflate corporate share prices? A political project designed to shape the world more to the liking of the billionaire class? A way to replace needy human workers with machines?

Perhaps it’s all of that—and more. In her groundbreaking book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, award-winning journalist Karen Hao argues that AI—and the profit-driven infrastructure that surrounds it—is a colonial project. What OpenAI boss Altman and his fellow ideologues in Silicon Valley are pursuing, Hao says, is not just corporate power but imperial power. They are building empires. And as history shows, empires are built on resource extraction, particularly the old-fashioned kind: of labor, energy, minerals, land, water.

Seemingly overnight, tech elites’ feel-good climate promises have evaporated, having been seamlessly swapped for slippery promises that so-called “artificial general intelligence” will save the planet for us. Never mind that AGI is a fantastical concept that has no agreed-upon definition, or that, more fundamentally, it appears nowhere close to existing. In Big Tech’s frenzied pursuit of the “hyperscale” AI dominance that evangelists claim will unlock AGI, as well as its expanding alliances with fossil fuel-backed petrostates and authoritarian political movements, the industry has become an increasingly central contributor to the climate crisis.

In an October conversation with Drilled, Hao discussed how Silicon Valley giants appear to be following the oil and gas industry’s playbook of disinformation and deceit; how Altman and OpenAI’s secrecy and disingenuous rhetoric transformed the field of AI research into corporate PR; and why the destructive trajectory of AI scale and commercialization is not inevitable—no matter what its power-hungry proponents would have you believe.

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10 Years After Berta Cáceres’s Murder, Why Is Honduras Still So Dangerous for Environmentalists?

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 16:40:00 +0000

This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the hired hit that took Berta Cáceres’s life and robbed both the Honduran and global environmental movements of a uniquely effective leader. Cáceres was targeted by a dam company, with an assist from the police, military, government officials and international banks because of her effective organizing on behalf of her people, the Lenca. Nina Lakhani literally wrote the book on Cáceres’s killing, and in this episode she walks us through what happened then, what’s happening now, the role the U.S. played in all of it, and what Americans can learn from the way Honduran activists continue to show up in the face of violent repression.

Read Nina’s story

Read Nina’s book

Check out Berta’s organization, Copinh

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Just Because the U.S. Says It's Legal Doesn't Make It So: Companies Trading in Illegally Seized Venezuelan Oil Face Legal Risk

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:09:00 +0000

Fernanda Hopenhaym, member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights walks Drilled senior global climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani through the many legal pitfalls companies getting involved in the United States seizure of the Venezuelan oil industry might be facing.

Check out the longer story on our website.

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How Climate Protest Backlash Led to Present-Day Repression

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:23:00 +0000

It's easy to feel like climate "doesn't matter" as the United States descends into fascism, as if climate and democracy are somehow separate issues. Researcher Oscar Berglund and Amy Westervelt connect the dots between the global backlash to climate protest and the broader repression we're seeing in supposedly democratic countries around the world.

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A "Green Transition"? If Only It Were That Simple

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 19:34:00 +0000

In More and More and More, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz shows that the human history of energy is one of accumulation, not substitution. Here, he talks to reporter Adam Lowenstein about how the "energy transition" frame got so entrenched, why clean-energy innovation is not the same thing as decarbonization, how the fossil fuel industry helped launder pipe dreams of dysfunctional technologies into mainstream climate “solutions”, and much more (and more and more).

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Introducing Lawless Planet: "Surveillance and Sabotage on the Dakota Access Pipeline"

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 23:26:00 +0000

When activists Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya take drastic measures to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, they have no idea that a shadowy private security contractor called TigerSwan has them in its sights.

Special thanks to:

Alleen Brown and The Intercept (https://theintercept.com/2018/12/30/tigerswan-infiltrator-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock/)

You Strike A Match by Julia Shipley (https://grist.org/protest/dakota-access-pipeline-activists-property-destruction/)

Democracy Now (https://www.democracynow.org/)

Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter

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Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:11:00 +0000

Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent, and destructive as the climate heats up. Drilled reporter Royce Kurmelovs and Canadian author John Vallaint, author of Fire Weather, discuss the climate-fire nexus.

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The Norwegian Paradox: Norway's Fossil Fuel Dilemma

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 08:10:00 +0000

In this bonus episode of The Black Thread, we examine a single legal case that distilles the Norwegian paradox perfectly: the planned electrification of the Melkøya gas processing plant. It's a key conflict site where Norway's net zero transformation clashes with its fossil fuel industry, Indigenous rights, youth climate activism, worker safety, and even criticism from the United Nation.

Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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How Climate Activists Successfully Fight Obstruction

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 20:34:00 +0000

Despite growing repression worldwide, climate activists continue to stick it to obstructionists and drive change. In this season's finale, Jennie Stephens (University of Ireland Maynooth) and Sharon Yadin (University of Haifa) share the effective strategies that activists can use to push back against the forces that block climate action.

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How Litigation Works to Fight Climate Obstruction

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:18:00 +0000

It's bleak out there and while climate obstruction can feel overwhelming, there are efforts being made to fight back against it. One of them is litigation and holding corporations legally accountable. Joana Setzer (London School of Economics) speaks to how climate litigation is being used to challenge companies, enforce climate commitments, and push for climate action globally.

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Drlling Deep: Uruguay's Renewable Energy System with Natasha Hakimi Zapata

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 22:52:00 +0000

More than a decade ago—when wind and solar power were far more expensive than they are today—Uruguay, long plagued by droughts and energy shortages, transitioned its entire economy such that 98% of its electricity now comes from renewable sources. They did it in just two years, and used the savings to slash the country's poverty rate from 40% into the single digits.

Natasha Hakimi Zapata covers Uruguay's transformation in her book, Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe. Hakimi Zapata shares how activists and policymakers can learn from Uruguay's transformation and why progressive movements should confidently articulate the economic benefits of renewable energy.

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COP Out: What the Heck Happened at COP30?

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 16:05:00 +0000

We're bringing you episode 5 of Dana R. Fisher's COP Out podcast, from the Center for Environment, Equity and Community at American University, featuring our own Amy Westervelt and legendary climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe talking about what happened at this year's COP, whether the process is fixable, and how to get the benefits of global convening without all the headaches. Check out the rest of Dana's series here.

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How and Why Climate Adaptation Measures Get Blocked

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 15:41:00 +0000

Working against regulations on emissions might protect the economic interests of those with money to lose, but why would anyone fight against adapting to survive climate disaster? In the negotiating rooms at COP 30, adaptation was one of the biggest debate areas. Laura Kuhl (Northeastern University) and Stacy-Ann Robinson (Emory University) explain why adaptation policies face scrutiny and opposition.

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Carbon Bros Mailbag: Navigating Traditional Male Spaces and the Benefits of Solidarity

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:23:00 +0000

Daniel Penny and Amy Westervelt return for the Carbon Bros mailbag episode, answering listener questions from around the world about masculinity, traditional male spaces, vocational therapy, solidarity, and the role of gender in engaging in climate action.

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Drilling Deep: Jessica Green on Why We Need More Confrontation at COP

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 11:15:00 +0000

After four decades of the United Nations climate conference COP, progress on global climate action remains slow. So what isn't working? How is it possible that so much fanfare, so many words, and so much work—much of it genuine and good-faith—has amounted to such little progress?

University of Toronto political science professor Jessica F. Green has some ideas. In Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them, the longtime observer of global climate negotiations and expert on carbon accounting argues that the COP embodies a “win-win” approach to a problem for which someone has to lose. The challenge is to make sure the right people (and planet) do the winning, while the “fossil asset owners,” as Green describes them, do the losing.

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The Corruption of COP: Inside Climate Obstruction at the UN

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 21:25:00 +0000

The United Nations' climate processes were created to drive global climate action, but from the beginning they've faced organized efforts to delay progress. As COP 30 begins, Kari de Pryck (University of Geneva) and Eduardo Viola (Institute of International Relations, Brazil) join Amy to analyze how COP and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change get hijacked by those opposed to climate action, what it means for global climate policy, and what to expect at this year's COP in Brazil.

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Norway Beyond Oil: Climate, Policy, Society

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 15:17:00 +0000

We look ahead to Norway's future, exploring how the country might begin to loosen oil's grip on its politics and identity. Hear how different voices envision aligning the country's actions with its values, its reputation, and the realities of climate change.

Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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How Climate Obstruction Works at the Local Level

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:26:00 +0000

Local governments are a double-edged sword when it comes to climate policy, with the power to either do far more or far less than national governments. They can be an agent of change or an agent of obstruction. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University) and Joshua A. Basseches (Tulane University) walk us through how subnational governments, like states and municipalities, work and how they engage in climate obstruction.

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Climate Obstruction in the Global South

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:38:00 +0000

The United States is a global leader of climate obstruction, but it's not the only guilty country. M. Omar Faruque (Queen’s University, Canada) and Ruth E. McKie (De Montfort University) look at how and why climate obstruction occurs in the Global South, exploring the political, economic, and institutional factors that lead the countries most vulnerable to climate change, and least responsible for emissions, to participate in climate obstruction.

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Challenging the Narratives

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Do the facts behind the narratives being told by Norway's fossil fuel industry, and government, add up? We hear experts critique some of the stories that keep Norwegian oil and gas pumping, while industry representatives explain the logic behind the rhetoric.

Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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Drilling Deep: Karen House on Saudi Arabia Under Mohammed bin Salman

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 20:40:00 +0000

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House, author of The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia, joins Adam Lowenstein to discuss how the crown prince has reshaped Saudi Arabia. They explore if MBS's gamble on economic and social freedoms alongside ciivil and political repression is politically, or environmentally, sustainable and examine how Saudi Arabia's oil and petrochemical industries serve its geopolitical interests. Karen and Adam also discuss the kingdom’s promises about transitioning away from fossil fuels and why it might be a bit less green than climate advocates would hope.

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Abdul El-Sayed on Climate Complexities and Benevolent Masculinity

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 13:46:00 +0000

In this extended conversation, climate policy expert Abdul El-Sayed explores the complexities of the climate crisis and the role of masculinity in shaping how men engage, or fail to engage, with climate solutions.

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Petroganda: How the Oil Industry Is Shaping Norway's Politics and Culture

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 05:00:00 +0000

A growing number of experts and commentators suggest "petroganda"—the pervasive phenomenon of oil industry manipulation—is at work in Norway, influencing the country's politics, culture, and support for the oli industry. We discuss how "petroganda" guides the information that the public receives, or doesn’t receive, about the relationship between oil and climate change and learn how the story of oil in Norway is told.

Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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How the Animal Agriculture Industry Blocks Methane Regulation

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 22:02:00 +0000

For decades, the meat and dairy industries avoided scrutiny for the planet-heating emissions they pump into the atmosphere. As governments began considering methane regulation, the animal agriculture sector starting working on efforts to resist such regulations. Siliva Secchi (University of Iowa) and Kathrin Lauber (University of Edinburgh) expound the concept of "agricultural exceptionalism" and the strategies the agriculture industry uses to keep climate policy at bay.

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How the Coal, Utilities, and Transportation Industries Block Climate Policy

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 19:10:00 +0000

The coal, utilities, and transportation industries have all played a major role in stopping governments from regulating emissions or transitioning to cleaner energy. Examining how those effort have taken shape around the world, Jen Schneider (Boise State University) and Gregory Trencher (Kyoto University) break down the strategies these industries use to influence policymakers, resist decarbonization, and slow climate action.

Additional resources:
Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

You can now download a FREE copy of the book Climate Obstruction: A Global Survey here!

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Introducing The Black Thread: The Norwegians

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:23:00 +0000

Over the next few weeks, we're sharing a new mini-series, The Black Thread, about Norway's complicated relationship with its identity as both a progressive leader and oil state.

Social norms and cultural values shape Norwegian's identity as a good, caring, nature-loving people. What happens when those values come into conflict with the reality of Norway's outsized influence on climate change?

Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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Facing Climate Despair: How to Cope with Wen Stephenson

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 19:45:00 +0000

The climate crisis can feel overwhelming—to witness venture-capital-fueled AI domination, democracy’s steady drift toward authoritarianism, state-sanctioned genocide, and the collapse of one climate boundary after another is to encounter a profound sense of despair. But what if the path forward lies in accepting, rather than resisting, this despair?

In his new book, Learning to Live in the Dark: Essays in a Time of Catastrophe, climate activist and journalist Wen Stephenson argues that the only way to confront the crises of our time is to meet this despair head-on. He shares how he's faced his own climate despairs and offers insights for living in an era of climate, political, and social crisis while holding onto humanity.

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How the Fossil Fuel Industry Sabotages Climate Action

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 19:29:00 +0000

The fossil fuel industry has undoubtedly played a central role in obstructing climate action through lobbying, impacting political influence, and spreading disinformation. Academic Kristoffer Ekberg (Lund University), nonprofit researcher Kert Davis (Center for Climate Integrity), and DeSmog global managing editor Geoff Dembicki walk us through how fossil fuel industry strategies have undermined climate policy, delayed regulation, and furthered climate denial.

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How The Media Drives Climate Obstruction

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 13:50:00 +0000

Climate obstruction would not be nearly as effective as it is without the influence of the public relations industry and the willful ignorance of mainstream media. Melissa Aronczyk (Rutgers University) and Max Boycoff (University of Colorado) explain why getting a handle on the media's role in climate obstruction is critical to solving the problem. Melissa and Max examine how strategic communication and media systems have contributed to climate denial, spread misinformation, and delayed action.

Additional resources:
Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

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Why Misinformation Works: The Psychology Behind Climate Disinformation

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:34:00 +0000

Why does misinformation spread like wildfire—and why is it so hard to correct? Climate communication researchers John Cook (University of Melbourne) and Dominik A. Stecula (Colorado State University) explain the psychology of misinformation, drawing on years of research around climate denial, political polarization, and media dynamics.

Additional resources:
Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

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How Rightwing Populism and Accelerationism Fuels Climate Denial

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:32:00 +0000

Jesse Bryant (Yale University) and Dieter Plehwe (University of Kassel) examine the growing connection between right-wing populism, climate change denial, and resistance to climate policy. They explore how rising authoritarian politics in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe are reshaping public discourse and obstructing meaningful climate change.

Additional resources:
Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

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Why Political Will is the Real Barrier to Climate Action

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:14:00 +0000

Despite at least a decade of scientific certainty, proposed technological solutions, and policy measures, the world still hasn’t acted on the climate crisis. The problem is a lack of political will—and how it’s been intentionally obstructed at every turn.

As we gear up for the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30), Amy Westervelt digs into a new book, Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment, to assess how powerful political, economic, and ideological forces have delayed global climate action. She’s joined by the leading climate and political scientists who wrote it, Timmons Roberts (Brown University), Jennifer Jacquet (University of Miami), Carlos Milani (Rio de Janeiro State University), and Christian Downie (Australian National University), to break down how climate politics reached this point, why resistance to climate policy has intensified, and what movements can realistically expect in the year ahead. You can check out and download the book here and check out the Climate Social Science Network here.

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Drilling Deep: The Golden Age of Oil-Funded Influence with Casey Michel

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 20:00:00 +0000

Reporter Adam Lowenstein talks with Casey Michel, author of Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World about the influence of oil money on United States climate policy. Michel also recently wrote a fascinating piece in The Atlantic, applying what he learned in researching and writing the book to what he's seeing during the second Trump administration.

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The "Carbon Dominance" Strategy Behind Trump's Anti-Renewables Actions

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:47:00 +0000

Killing a nearly-completed offshore wind farm makes no sense, even for a climate denier who thinks windmills kill whales. Political economist Mark Blyth walks Drilled reporter Royce Kumerlovs through the Trump administration's "carbon dominance" strategy, a deliberate effort to protect fossil fuel power and block renewable energy.

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Integration: Bringing Men Into the Climate Movement

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 20:28:00 +0000

The bros of the manosphere love to talk about "integrating" a man's warrior and civilized selves, but what would it look like to integrate men, and new ideas of masculinity, into the climate movement? Who is already doing this work, how can new models of masculinity support climate action, and where are the real opportunities for repair and progress?

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Why Is the Fossil Fuel Industry Funding Anti-Trans Politics?

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Special guest Vivian Taylor, a researcher on both trans rights and climate policy, joins us to share the the shocking connections between fossil billionaires and anti-trans campaigns. Turns out, it’s easy to distract people with genital inspectors so you don’t have to deal with methane leakage inspectors. We break down the overlap between anti-trans, anti-climate, and other right-wing movements, the critical need for unity in tackling these pressing issues, and how culture-war politics distract from climate accountability.

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The SLAPP Heard 'Round the World: Standing Rock Verdict

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 18:46:00 +0000

The verdict in Energy Transfer's lawsuit against Standing Rock activists and Greenpeace is announced, more than doubling the damages. At a time when repression of protest is accelerating in the United States, Energy Transfer's lawyers claim it's a victory for free speech. As the trial wraps up, we look at what this verdict means for Indigenous rights, climate activists, and the decline of individual free speech rights in the United States as corporate free speech rights expand.

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Climate Hysteria and “Boy Math”: Masculinity, Tech Fixes, and Gendered Climate Solutions

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 11:03:00 +0000

Stop listening to hysterical Swedish teenagers and start listening to reasonable men! Some dudes do have solutions to the climate crisis; they just don’t involve messy interpersonal stuff, changing their lifestyles, or reorganizing the global economy.

Gendered narratives, from doomerism to colonies on Mars, have shaped popular responses to the climate crisis but these "boy math" solutions promise easy fixes without actual change and have led to individualized, “masculine” approaches to solving it.

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Sacred Sites: Defending Indigenous Spaces

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 06:11:00 +0000

One of the charges Energy Transfer has made against Greenpeace is that the organization "defamed" the company by claiming the Dakota Access Pipeline was disturbing sites the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe views as sacred. The Sioux Tribe stands behind this claim and shares why protecting sacred sites is central to Indigenous rights.

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How "Energy Dominance" Became a Gendered Climate Narrative

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 19:08:00 +0000

“Energy dominance” became a defining slogan of the Trump administration—but who or what are they trying to dominate with all that oil and gas? Amy and Daniel trace how gender became so embedded in our collective understanding of nature. From the shift away from earth-centered spiritual traditions like worshipping Gaia and Indigenous earth-mother figures to the rise of extracting "natural resources" from private property and seeing gas-guzzling vehicles as a symbol of masculinity, we look at how energy became entwined with power.

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The Testosterone Pipeline: How the Manosphere Fuels Climate Denial

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:44:00 +0000

Manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan, and Jordan Peterson aren’t just shaping ideas about masculinity—they’re also blasting their followers with climate denial. The fossil fuel industry has known since at least the 1990s that certain types of men are more susceptible to climate disinformation than other segments of the public. Climate denial has now seeped into the manosphere, shaping men's views on climate change and having a big impact at the ballot box.

Carbon Bros is a collaboration between Drilled Media and Non-Toxic, written and co-hosted by Amy Westervelt and Daniel Penny.

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Back to the Water: Pipeline Impacts and Indigenous Concerns

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 15:42:00 +0000

Energy Transfer has successfully kept key details out of the court, including the tribe's concerns about the Dakota Access Pipeline's impact on their water source. We uncover the pipeline spills, risks, and issues it has already caused.

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Introducing: The Outlaw Ocean | A war on migration, funded by the EU (Libya Pt. 1)

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Where the law of the land ends, the story begins. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Ian Urbina returns with a new season of his riveting podcast anthology, The Outlaw Ocean, which explores the most lawless place on earth — the vast unpoliceable ocean.

In this episode, the Libyan Coast Guard is doing the European Union’s dirty work, capturing migrants as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe and throwing them in secretive prisons. There, they are extorted, abused and sometimes killed. An investigation into the death of Aliou Candé, a young farmer and father from Gineau-Bisseau, puts the Outlaw Ocean team in the cross-hairs of Libya’s violent and repressive regime. In this stunning three-part series, we take you inside the walls of one of the most dangerous prisons, in a lawless regime where the world’s forgotten migrants languish.

More episodes of The Outlaw Ocean are available here: https://link.mgln.ai/drilled

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Hanna E. Morris on Apocalyptic Authoritarianism and Media Bias

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 22:57:00 +0000

In her new book Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power, University of Toronto media scholar Hanna E. Morris argues that some climate journalists, striving to preserve a self-determined “moderate center,” are deploying some of the same tropes and reinforcing some of the same narratives as the extreme right. Even as they see themselves defending democracy and confronting the climate crisis, these media elites might be contributing to a prize sought by both the MAGA right and the fossil fuel industry: Preventing the emergence of a hopeful, democratic, and class-defying movement against climate change.

Earlier this month, Morris spoke with Drilled about who gets to choose which climate solutions are “right” and which ones are “wrong,” what the media’s divergent treatment of the Green New Deal and the Inflation Reduction Act reveals about its entrenched biases, and why a sense of fatalism and inevitability seems to pervade so much mainstream climate coverage.

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Coming Soon: Carbon Bros—Men and Climate Denial in America

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

You’ve heard it from cable news pundits, Democratic strategists, and your favorite YouTuber: young men swung the last United States election for Trump. Understanding what's driving the "manosphere" and how to reach the young men in its grips is on everyone's minds, but we're zooming into a speciific corner of it: the intersection of male grievance culture and climate denial. Why are American men less likely than women to believe in climate change, or take personal or political actions against it? What does their reluctance to deal with the climate crisis have to do with men’s shift to the right in general? And what can be done to reverse it?

Carbons Bros is a cross-over miniseries from Drilled and Non-Toxic.

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The Charge: What Greenpeace Is Accused Of

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:19:00 +0000

Energy Transfer has quietly dropped Cody Hall and Krystle Two Bulls, the other Indigenous activist originally named in their massive lawsuit, exclusively targeting Greenpeace. Allen breaks down the charges against Greenpeace, the evidence Energy Transfer is using, and the legal strategies behind the SLAPP suit.

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The Trial Begins: Jury Selection

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 14:56:00 +0000

Alleen arrives in North Dakota for jury selection in the lawsuit targeting Standing Rock activists and is shocked watching it play out. Recording in the courtroom is prohibited and jurors who state their open bias against activists—or are even connected to the fossil fuel industry—are allowed to serve.

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How We Got Here: Standing Rock, Greenpeace, and the $666 Million Lawsuit

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Greenpeace, only tangentially involved in the Standing Rock protests, faces a staggering $666 million bill for damages...despite the fact that the Dakota Access Pipeline was built, and has been making Energy Transfer millions of dollars for years. Indigenous water protector Cody Hall, who was a key figure during the protests and initially targeted in the lawsuit, walks us through the 2016-2017 events and how the lawsuit began.

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"All Hell Breaks Loose": How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town

Fri, 30 May 2025 02:21:00 +0000

A decade ago, residents of a small Texas town near a naval base enjoyed quiet, ocean-adjacent living. Today, the same town has become one of the country’s top oil export hubs—and a fenceline community surrounded by terminals and industrial activity. Reporter Alex Ip, author of an investigative series from The Xylom, explains how Big Oil’s expansion disrupted the town, shut down the naval base, and exposed residents to environmental and social impacts.

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Coming Soon: SLAPP'D—Corporate Power vs. Indigenous Rights

Thu, 22 May 2025 14:09:00 +0000

Investigative reporter Alleen Brown follows the story of an Indigenous nation fighting for its water rights, an international environmental movement finding its voice, and an industry attempting to crush its political opposition. Uncovering how industries use SLAPP suits—lawsuits to intimidate and silence activists—we look at the intersection of environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and corporate power.

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Malcolm Harris on Realism and Radical Possibilities in the Climate Crisis

Tue, 20 May 2025 18:45:00 +0000

In his new book What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis, Malcolm Harris challenges us to confront the climate crisis as the complex, urgent problem it truly is and tackle it at the scale it deserves. Malcolm speaks with reporter Adam Lowenstein about what that looks like and why embracing the full scope of the crisis can feel surprisingly liberating.

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From Damages: New Evidence and Updates on U.S. Climate Liability Cases

Fri, 16 May 2025 02:42:00 +0000

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists compiles documentary evidence on the role of fossil fuel companies in obstructing climate policy. We walk through the latest findings in the report, and get an update on climate cases in the United States.

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How the U.S. Helped the World Label Environmentalists as "Terrorists"

Wed, 07 May 2025 01:37:00 +0000

In the finale of our Real Free Speech Threat season, we examine how the United States military and its national security agencies have stoked a global crackdown on environmental protest, and bring you the inspiring story of one Filipino land defender who's been targeted by the state for years and is still fighting.

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Coming Soon: The Man-o-Sphere

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 00:25:00 +0000

Later this year we’ll be bringing you a season in collaboration with the podcast Non-Toxic, hosted by journalist and culture critic Daniel Penny, about the intersection between masculinity and climate. Meet Daniel and learn about his work and what you can expect from this season.

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New Research on Fossil Fuel Sponsored Content and Media Misleading Practices

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 14:13:00 +0000

The fossil fuel industry has long shaped public perception through advertorials and sponsored content created by the media outlets themselves. These op-eds, slide shows and videos, and podcasts are produced by media outlets' internal brand studios, not their editorial staffs. But these services are explicitly marketed as a way to make corporate content mirror the editorial content in style and approach, and when it comes to fossil fuel advertisers it often directly contradicts what the editorial staff is reporting. In late 2023, we published a report detailing the many examples of this and delving into the peer-reviewed research that shows how misleading this practice is to readers. One of the researchers who has most contributed to this body of research is Boston University's Dr. Michelle Amazeen, who has published a new study looking at why this practice is particularly misleading on social media, and what media outlets might be able to do to make it less so.

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Shell’s Climate Case: The Win, the Loss, and What It Means for Future Global Climate Litigation

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +0000

In November, a Dutch court ruled in Shell's favor on an appeal in a big international climate case, but it wasn't quite the win for Shell that the media made it out to be. While Shell won on appeal in some areas, the court reaffirmed a critical point from the original case: that Shell is legally required to reduce its global emissions.

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From Fuel to Fork: How the Oil and Gas Industry Drives Food-Based Emissions

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:01:00 +0000

The food we eat is more deeply tied to fossil fuels than most people realize. Fuel to Fork co-hosts Anna Lappé and Matthew Kessler talk through the history of fossil fuels and food and why it's remained hidden for so long. Find Fuel to Fork here.

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How Climate Language Shapes Climate Politics with Genevieve Guenther

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:38:00 +0000

In her new book, The Language of Climate Politics, Genevieve Guenther digs into six key rhetorical devices that are being used to slow or block climate action. For an academic book, it's made some folks on the Internet awfully mad.

Amy and Genevieve discuss the arguments at hand, why they've ignited online backlash, and what Genevieve’s research reveals about the political battles over climate policy.

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Climate Week 2024: Taking on the Mad Men of Big Oil

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:27:00 +0000

Long before outright climate denial, the fossil fuel industry relied on sophisticated PR and advertising campaigns to shape how the public understood the economy, the environment, and energy itself. In this Climate Week 2024 episode, we revisit The Mad Men of Big Oil—our 2020 investigative season on the public relations industry’s role in fueling climate disaster. The series helped inspire campaigns to clean up the PR industry and has only grown more relevant, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres now calling out the “Mad Men fueling climate disaster” by name. This is a live recording from Climate Week.

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How Fossil-Funded University Research Shapes Climate Policy

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 01:57:00 +0000

Universities can play a powerful role in shaping climate research and public policy. Drilled reporter Molly Taft joins us to talk about newly released information on fossil fuel funding of university research, and shares interviews with climate disinformation researcher Geoffrey Supran, who authored one of the recent studies, and with philosopher of science Craig Callender at the University of California San Diego, which just passed a precedent-setting policy to require disclosure of funding on research.

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Climate and Project 2025: Mary Annaïse Heglar & Amy Westervelt on Spill

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 23:23:00 +0000

What does Project 2025 mean for climate policy and what should we expect to hear (or not hear) about climate in this week’s presidential debate? In Spill, our climate talk show, Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt break down the political moments shaping climate action in the United States.

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The Battle Over the Clean Air Act

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 13:40:00 +0000

In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA that when the United States Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, climate science was “in its infancy,” implying that government officials could never have intended for the legislation to cover the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2022, SCOTUS doubled down on that idea, ruling in West Virginia vs. EPA that since the Clean Air Act didn't explicitly talk about climate change, the EPA cannot regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Now, new historical evidence unearthed by a team of Harvard University researchers led by Naomi Oreskes calls the court's understanding of the history of climate science into question, which could have major implications for the government's ability to regulate climate-changing emissions.

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How Big Oil Sold a “Climate Solution” and Stuck Taxpayers with the Bill

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 13:55:00 +0000

Carbon capture has always seemed flawed as a climate solution, but in a blockbuster investigation co-published with Vox, we discovered just how scammy it really is. Carolyn Raffensperger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network walks through the many issues with carbon capture technology, from the lack of climate benefit to the massive public health threat it creates.

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Silencing Activists: How an El Savador Cold Case Murder Became a Tool to Criminalize Activism

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 17:59:00 +0000

In 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass an outright ban on mining to protect the country's water and people. Now, self-proclaimed "coolest dictator in the world" Nayib Bukele seeks to lift the ban in an effort to boost the economy, which took a major hit thanks to his embrace of Bitcoin as the national currency in 2021. The activists who helped pass the ban are standing in his way. The solution? Accuse them of a decades-old unsolved murder. Reporter Sebastian Escalon brings us this story, narrated by Yessenia Funes.

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From Damages: Could Oil Companies Be Charged with Murder?

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 23:38:00 +0000

With the Supreme Court reshaping the legal landscape, we've been getting a ton of emails about what legal strategies might be available for climate accountability. In this episode of Damages, our climate litigation podcast, we share how Public Citizen has been working to explore the idea of using criminal law to hold oil companies accountable for climate change. Aaron Regunburg, Public Citizen's senior climate policy counsel, joins us to discuss.

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The Great “Greening” of LNG: How Fossil Fuel Lobbying Fuels Climate Delay

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 15:57:00 +0000

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is increasingly marketed as a “green” or “clean” energy solution, but the reality tells a different story. As part of our ongoing series looking into new climate problems the fossil fuel industry is peddling as solutions, we uncover the role of a particularly active lobbying group pushing LNG as a climate solution.

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How Management Consultancies Data-Wash Climate Solutions

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 19:43:00 +0000

Fossil fuel companies can't push ideas like "low carbon gas" or oversell technologies like carbon capture alone. Management consultations play a critical, and often overlooked, role in shaping climate narratives. Reporter Maddie Stone investigates multinational consultancy ICF, which is well known for its government climate work, and also produces reports the fossil fuel industry uses to promote oil and gas expansion.

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The Coordinated Attack on Shareholder Activism

Sat, 18 May 2024 17:03:00 +0000

The backlash against ESG continues, with a string of lawsuits aimed at shutting down shareholder activism. Andrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, joins us to explain what's going on, and why anyone who cares about basic rights needs to be tuning into the ESG fight.

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Climate News Update: New Carbon Majors Report and Swiss Elders' Historic Win

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 04:00:00 +0000

The landmark Carbon Majors report has been updated with some surprising new data and the European Court of Human Rights has sent down an historic ruling that will shape how EU legislators look at energy and climate.

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Sainte-Soline and the Government Crackdown on France’s Earth Uprisings

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 11:00:00 +0000

In France, the working-class Yellow Vest movement, racial equality groups, and progressive climate activists have joined forces in a multi-racial, cross-class coalition called Earth Uprisings. The response has been shockingly violent and extreme. Reporter Anna Pujol-Mazzini takes us there.

Check out Fatima Ouassak's new book Pour Une Écologie Pirate.

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The United States Anti-Renewables Movement, Explained

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 12:20:00 +0000

Isaac Slevin, lead author of Brown University's Against the Wind report on opposition to wind energy on the east coast of the United States, walks us through the opposition and how these anti-renewable tactics are now influencing movements in Australia.

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Shell, Oil Colonialism, and the Ongoing Struggle of Nigeria’s Environmental Activists

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 02:56:00 +0000

Decades after the Ogini 9 were executed for opposing Shell's operations, Nigeria continues to grapple with the environmental and political fall out of oil extraction. With Shell shutting down onshore activities in 2023, they leave behind poisoned water, various political and economic crises, and a country that is measurably worse off than when its oil industry began. Meanwhile, the government continues to target environmental activists.

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What Ecuador's Yasuní Referendum Really Means for Oil, in Yasuní and Beyond

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Last year, headlines all over the world proclaimed victory for the environment: finally, after more than a decade of promises, there would be no more drilling in Yasuní National Park, a large swath of the Ecuadorian Amazon. But as Macy Lipkin reports, all wasn't what it seemed.

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Introducing: Hazard NYC

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:08:20 +0000

Check out the limited-run series Hazard NYC from The City, all about how climate change intersects with Superfund sites in New York City. Start with episode one here.

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The Past, Present, and Future of Climate Protest with Dana R. Fisher

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Sociologist Dana R. Fisher draws on years of research in her new book, Saving Ourselves, to explore what makes climate protests effective, what a protest "working" even means, where the climate movement is likely to go next, and where it needs to go to achieve real climate action.

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The "EcoTerrorist" Panic

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 12:50:00 +0000

The United States' governments definition of "ecoterrorism" has long fueled backlash against environmental activists. Investigative reporter and Drilled senior editor Alleen Brown uncovers how the Department of Homeland Security warned Atlanta officials about the threat posed by "Defend the Atlanta Forest" for months before police raided the forest, ultimately killing one protestor, and charging dozens more with domestic terrorism and racketeering.

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Meet the United Nations' First Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 22:34:00 +0000

Michel Forst became the United Nations' first Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders in 2022, monitoring the increasingly onerous laws and aggressive tactics being used against climate protestors. France reporter Anna Pujol-Massini talks to Forst about his position, his urgent warnings about climate activism in the United Kingdom, and what power he has to do something about the crackdown on climate protest.

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How UK Courts Became the New Battleground for Climate Protest

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 05:12:00 +0000

A decade after United Kingdom courts made history with the first "climate necessity" ruling in history, the UK government has passed new laws that not only restrict what protesters can do, but also how protesters are allowed to defend themselves in court. In some courtrooms, the climate necessity defense has been effectively outlawed. How did that happen, how did it happen so quickly, and what does it mean for the future of climate activism in the UK?

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What Happened At Bayou Bridge? The Other End of the Dakota Access Pipeline

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 17:15:00 +0000

While protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation drew international attention, the southern end of the pipeline saw a quieter, but no less intense crackdown. Cops moonlighted as pipeline security while suppressing free speech and the right to protest. Reporter Karen Savage shares what happened at Bayou Bridge, and what lessons we can take away from the climate movement for anyone who values democracy.

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Seven Years Later: The Dakota Access Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 02:20:00 +0000

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closes the comment period on its draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile pipeline that’s been pumping 500,000 barrels of oil per day since May 2017.

The pipeline runs from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to southern Illinois, crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Over the past six years, every court in the country has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers did not study the pipeline’s environmental impact closely enough before approving the pipeline’s route. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has maintained all along that the project poses a serious threat to its drinking water. From April 2016 to February 2017 thousands of water protectors from all over the country joined them in protests and direct actions. The resistance at Standing Rock is often cited by the fossil fuel industry, police, and politicians as the reason states need new anti-protest laws, while the backlash to that resistance is often cited by water protectors as the reason for PTSD, asthma, and in some cases lost eyes and limbs.

Now, the Army Corps of Engineers says that removing the pipeline would be too damaging to the Missouri River and its surrounding ecosystems. The removal actions it describes in its EIS are the same actions taken to install the pipeline in the first place. The Army Corps suggests that removing the pipeline would be more environmentally harmful than allowing the oil to continue pumping under one of Standing Rock's primary drinking water sources. Nonetheless, this report—seven years late—represents one of the few pathways left to stop the pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is advocating to seal the pipeline off, while some water protectors are advocating for the pipeline to be removed entirely. The public comment period closes Dec 13, 2023.

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Modern-Day Bead Trading: How the Fossil Fuel Industry Co-opts Indigenous Protest in Canada

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 07:28:00 +0000

Reporter Martha Troian brings us to Canada, where the Wet'suwet'en people have been fighting for years against a gas pipeline they never authorized on their territory and examines how fossil fuel companies employ "redwashing" to manipulate public perception.

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Living on the Frontlines of War and Climate Crisis: Abeer Butmeh in Palestine

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 20:09:00 +0000

Abeer Butmeh, coordinator of the Palestinian NGOs Network, one of the most important Palestinian environmental organizations, spoke to senior editor Alleen Brown about battling for short-term and long-term survival when your identity itself is criminalized.

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Messy Conversations: Magatte Wade on Africa, Climate, and Free Speech

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 17:38:00 +0000

Magatte Wade of the Atlas Network’s Center for African Prosperity joins us to discuss the intersection of poverty, climate, and property rights. We also dive into the nuances that too often get left out of climate conversation.

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The Tomato Soup “Controversy”: Do Disruptive Climate Protests Actually Work?

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 14:26:00 +0000

Climate activism has shifted over the past few years—it's more constant now and includes more direct action than ever before. Some of that action has sparked backlash from critics, including climate scientists and advocates, worried that protest will turn the public away from the urgent need to act on the climate crisis. Social science researchers who study structural change and protest say there's no evidence to back up that fear and that the only time social movements have ever affected change is when they've been wildly disruptive. We hear from social scientists on how radical or not climate protests really are, and what factors make direct action work or fail.

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Why Indigenous Land Defenders Face Repression

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 13:46:00 +0000

From Ecuador to North Dakota, British Columbia to New Zealand, the backlash against Indigenous-led environmental protest is always particularly harsh, infused with colonialist entitlement to land, water, and other resources. Historian Nick Estes walks us through what that looks like in the United States, and the great team behind the documentary The Territory brings us a recent example from Brazil. Check out the film here.

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Guyana Gas-to-Energy Project: Who Really Benefits?

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 23:00:00 +0000

A new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) looks at the details of Guyana's planned "Gas to Energy" project and finds mostly benefits for ExxonMobil and more debt for Guyana.

Read the full report here.

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Joanna Smith on "Conspiring Against the United States" with Finger paint

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 11:59:00 +0000

In April 2023, Joanna Oltman Smith walked into the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. with fellow activist Tim Martin, and smeared water-soluble kids' finger paint on the glass display case containing a Degas statue called "Little Dancer." The two read off a statement about the importance of protecting actual, living children as well as we do sculptures of them. Smith and Martin figured they would be charged with vandalism, but each is now facing two felony charges, including one of "conspiring against the United States government."

One thing that makes it easy to criminalize protest is the steady hum of content that paints climate activists as fringe weirdos or out-of-touch elitists. We think it's important to meet these people and bring their stories and voices to you directly. We invited Joanna to share hers.

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Living with Loss: Climate Damage in Nigeria

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Climate activists warn about the future—but for many communities, climate loss is already routine. Mo Isu from Inherited looks at the cycle of loss and rebuilding in the rural Niger Delta region of Nigeria as the country weathers extreme seasonal flooding. After meeting a flood survivor in his hometown of Lagos, Mo travels twelve hours to Lokoja—the town where Nigeria’s largest rivers converge—to explore how directly impacted flood survivors endure the region’s relentless cycle of damage and repair.

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How Think Tanks Paved the Way to Criminalize Climate Protest

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:30:00 +0000

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Vietnam's Tax Evasion Charges Are Used to Jail Climate Activists

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 14:57:00 +0000

President Biden made his first trip to Vietnam as President this week, with the intention of "upgrading" diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. Not on the agenda? Vietnam's move to use trumped-up tax evasion charges to suppress civil society groups, including five climate activists that have been imprisoned since 2021. Read The 88 Project's report on this practice.

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Australia’s State-by-State Crackdown on Climate Protest

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 04:05:00 +0000

Since Queensland passed the "Dangerous Attachment Devices" law in 2019 in response to anti-coal protests, Australian states have rapidly adopted similar measures targeting climate activism.

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The Corporate Push to Criminalize Speech

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 04:20:00 +0000

There's a lot of discourse happening about free speech in the context of "cancel culture", but precious little coverage of the global push to criminalize protest, particularly environmental and climate protest. We examine how extractive industries began agitating governments to crack down on protest, what tactics they use, and why they've been effective.

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Disha Ravi on Becoming the Face of "Radical" Protest in India

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 04:20:00 +0000

At just 22 years old, climate activist Disha Ravi—co-founder of Fridays for Future India—was arrested, flown across the country, and jailed for her activism. She joins us to explain the night the police showed up at her home, how it's still impacting her two years later, and why she refuses to let it stop her activism or force her out of India. An extended version of this interview will run in partnership with the Heated newsletter next week, as the G20 Summit gets underway in Delhi.

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How the Media Has Helped to Criminalize Climate Protest with Evlondo Cooper

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:29:00 +0000

Media Matters senior researcher Evlondo Cooper breaks down how the media has covered climate activism, shaping mainstream perception and helping the fossil fuel industry in its quest to criminalize climate protest.

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National news' scant coverage of climate protests largely overlooked the scientific urgency driving controversial climate actions

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Coming Soon: The Real Free Speech Threat

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:21:00 +0000

Around the world, environmental protesters are facing escalating repression—from harsh laws with life-altering prison sentences to fines to protesters arreseted near "critical infrastructure" to violent attacks. Corporations are suing protestors and NGOs, comparing protest to organized crime. Governments are growing increasingly comfortable branding environmental protestors as “domestic terrorists.”

The media is largely participating in the rhetorical “othering” of protestors, opting in most cases to focus on the disruption that protest causes rather than the change it seeks. In our new season, we take an an in-depth look at how climate protest has evolved in recent years, where this backlash is coming from, how it’s grown so quickly, and what it feels like to be someone who’s concerned enough about the future of humanity to join a protest, only to find themselves facing violence and legal ramifications.

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The Next Citizens United Will Be a Climate Case

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 16:26:00 +0000

In more than 30 climate cases making their way through United States courts today, oil companies are using an argument they've been laying the legal groundwork for since the 1970s: that since everything they've ever said about climate change was in the interest of shaping policy or blocking regulation, it's protected speech, even if it was misleading.

We explore how those cases are playing out and the likelihood that this new take on "corporate free speech" could make its way all the way to the Supreme Court.

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A Legal Strategy: How Mobil Oil Fought for Corporate Free Speech

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Mobil Oil worried that its advertorial campaigns positioning Mobil as a personality in and of itself might be labeled "propaganda" by TV networks and deemed unfit to run. In response, Herb Schmertz, VP of Public Affairs for Mobil Oil, looked to the courts for protection. The "corporate free speech" movement moved through the courts, getting a big assist from tobacco lobbyist-turned-Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell and reshaped legal protections for corporations.

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The Panic: How Mobil Oil Changed Advertising Forever

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000

In the 1970s, Mobil Oil invented the advertorial and was aggressively pursuing an entirely new type of marketing, branding the company as a person itself with a unique personality and opinions that demanded attention. When public backlash threatened to undermine their approach, they launched a campaign that would change the course of United States culture, policy, advertising, and history.

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"Cancer Alley" Fiights Back

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 14:30:00 +0000

Louisiana's "Cancer Alley"—a stretch along the Mississippi River where petrochemical plants have created some of the worst air and water pollution America—has become a battleground. ExxonMobil, Chevron and other petrochemical giants are increasingly organizing against grassroots environmental justice activism in Louisiana that are part of the Beyond Petrochemicals campaign. The companies have joined with pro-industry politicians and local Chambers of Commerce to form a “sustainability council,” focused not on environmental sustainability but on the longevity of the petrochemical industry on Louisiana's Gulf Coast. Jo Banner of The Descendants Project and Shamyra Lavigne of RISE St. James, two key organizers in the area, join us to talk about why the industry is suddenly organizing against them.

Read more in The Guardian and Floodlight News exposé.

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The Anti-ESG Campaign Gets a Boost from RAGA

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:00:00 +0000

Ever since the Securities and Exchange Commission announced its intention to make Environmental Social and Governance metrics actually meaningful to investors, polluting industries have suddenly turned on ESG. Now that fight has a legal strategy, being carried out by the Republican Attorneys General Association.

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Jake Bittle on the Complexities of Climate Migration

Tue, 30 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Jake Bittle's book The Great Displacement looks at how extreme weather events are likely to drive Americans to move from one part of the country (or their state) to another. He talks through the complex web of factors that drive migration, and how policies might be changed to ease the burden on people and communities.

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Rethinking Electrification

Tue, 23 May 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Electrification offers an opportunity to rethink how we use energy and how we get around. Researcher Thea Riofrancos wants to see the United States seize that opportunity and set the country on a path to a better, more equitable future.

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A Verdict

Tue, 09 May 2023 11:04:00 +0000

The day after our season finale last week, we got some incredible news from Guyana: the High Court ruled against the oil company and the government in the big insurance case Melinda Janki filed. We caught up with Janki shortly after the verdict was released for this conversation.

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The Turning Point: What's Next for Guyana?

Tue, 02 May 2023 07:01:00 +0000

Will Guyana become the fossil fuel industry's newest profit center or can it chart a different path? In the last episode of our "Light, Sweet Crude" season we look at what's next for Guyana, and for other Global South countries grappling with poverty and climate change at the same time.

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The Global Oil Rush

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 08:00:00 +0000

What's happening in Guyana isn't an isolated case. It's part of a global oil rush, as oil companies race to tap as many remaining fossil fuel reserves as they can.

Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell discusses his story about what the global oil rush looks like in another part of the world: Namibia.

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ExxonMobil's Greenwashing Playbook

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 08:01:00 +0000

When we started reporting on Guyana's oil boom, we reached out to local environmental groups to hear their concerns about this new polluting industry. But we discovered something unsettling: every environmental organization we could find had taken money from ExxonMobil or its partners. Several have even made promotional videos praising the project. They argue that oil money is no dirtier than any other funding source, and, if it's there, they may as well take it to use for conservation efforts.

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Global Poverty and Global Warming

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 10:16:00 +0000

The tension between addressing global poverty and acting on the climate crisis is one the fossil fuel industry has been stoking in recent years. We asked Dr. Narasimha Rao to join us this week to get into the details of that conversation, where there are and aren't tradeoffs, and what his Decent Living Energy Project at Yale can tell us about how to solve both global crises at once.

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Constitutional Violation: Guyana's Climate Lawsuit

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 07:01:00 +0000

Melina Janki has filed seven separate legal cases aimed at blocking oil drilling in Guyana, but only one explicitly names climate change as a problem the project is guaranteed to exacerbate. It's a constitutional challenge invoking Guyana's constitutional right to a healthy environment, an amendment Janki herself helped write. Plaintiffs Dr. Troy Thomas and Quedad DeFreitas argue that the government’s choice to fast-track permits and oil production threatens their right to a healthy environment, as well as the rights of future generations. The Guyanese government argues that, ironically, it needs oil money to adapt to climate change.

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Unlimited Liability: The Guyanese Lawyer Taking on ExxonMobil

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 10:52:00 +0000

One person in Guyana understands both the inner workings of Big Oil and the intracacies of Guyanese governmental law better than almost anyone. Melinda Janki was raised in Guyana, but went to Oxford University and then worked as in-house counsel for oil giant BP before making her way back to Guyana. She returned home with a mission to help strengthen the country's environmental laws. In 2018, she began filing suits against the government to block offshore drilling. Her latest suit demands ExxonMobil be held liable for any environmental damages caused to Guyana in the case of an offshore catastrophe.

Read more in Antonia Juhaz's Wired story on Guyana.

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The Contract: Inside ExxonMobil's Guyana Oil Deal

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 06:10:00 +0000

After a year of pressure from local press and civil groups, the Guyanese government finally released its oil contract with ExxonMobil to the public. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) calls it an unfair deal for Guyana. Some local leaders implore the government to renegotiate the contract, but others say that's a fool's errand and fighting the contract should be done in court.

Additional resources:
The Quest to Defuse Guyana’s Carbon Bomb

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The Bloom: Finding Oil in Guyana

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 06:01:00 +0000

Five years ago, Kiana Wilburg was a new reporter when ExxonMobil executives and Guyanese government officials announced they had found oil 40 miles offshore. Wilburg and her newsroom had to rapdly learn about the oil industry and this suddenly influential company that was now in their country. They were left with one question: what kind of a deal had their country signed onto?

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New Season Coming Soon: Light, Sweet Crude

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 12:29:00 +0000

On paper, the small South American country of Guyana is the fastest-growing economy in the world, thanks to its oil boom. The country started shipping barrels of oil in 2019. Hotels are popping up all over its capital city. Historic homes are being turned into condos for visiting oil execs. But average citizens say they aren’t benefiting from the boom like they thought they would. And one lawyer is trying everything she can to stop her homeland from being changed from a carbon sink into a carbon bomb. In this special crossover season of Drilled and Damages, a look at 21st century oil colonialism, amid the climate crisis.

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Guyana: Life Inside a Ticking Carbon Bomb

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:30:21 +0000

In this special sneak preview of our next season, we hear from Melinda Janki, a lawyer who's fighting to keep her home country of Guyana from becoming one of the world's largest carbon bombs.

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Rep. Ro Khanna: Inside the House Climate Disinformation Investigation

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 18:55:00 +0000

The House Oversight Committee wrapped its investigation into climate disinformation, publishing a tranche of revealing internal documents on how the world's largest oil companies have misled the public about their committements to energy transition. Representative Ro Khanna, who helped spearhead the investigation, joins us to discuss.

Additional resources:
The Intercept

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Climate RICO Lawsuit & James Hansen Sues EPA: Two Groundbreaking Cases

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 07:00:03 +0000

November brought two seismic developments in climiate ligation: the first-ever climate RICO was filed on behalf of 16 Puerto Rican municipalities, plus a cohort of scientists and researches, including NASA scientist James Hansen, sued the EPA to compel them to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

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Loss and Damage at COP 27

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 19:00:20 +0000

Loss and damage financing was a big focus at COP 27, and ultimately one of the few things global negotiators could agree on. Wealthy nations finally acknowledged their responsibility to compensate for climate damages. But media coverage of loss and damage has left out crucial context, including how flawed the fossil fuel industry's "fossil fuels = development" myth is.

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Why Is One of Big Oil's Top Greenwashing PR Firms Handling Media for COP 27?

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 06:30:00 +0000

COP 27 is underway in Egypt and the stakes have never been higher. So why is longtime fossil fuel industry greenwasher Hill + Knowlton handing media for the conference?

We look back on the firm's longstanding history crafting science denial and delay strategies for tobacco and fossil fuel companies.

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COP 27: How to Neutralize Climate Disinformation

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 12:32:00 +0000

In just over a week, heads of state and negotiaters will meet at COP 27, the annual UN Climate Conference, to discuss a path forward on climate action. Historically, these events bring about a wave of climate disinformation. A new report walks journalists and communicators through how they can counter disinformation without amplifying it.

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Universities Are Saying No to Big Oil Money

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Since Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) began funding universities in the late 1940s, oil companies have invested heavily in higher education, not just to fund engineering programs climate science, but crucially to fund the public policy centers and economics programs that shape policy solutions. Fossil Free Research, a new group formed by many of the same students who pushed their campuses to divest from fossil fuels, is demanding that the world's top universities break their addiction to fossil fuel money. In late September they logged their first big win: Princeton University.

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Widening the Lens of Accountability: Live with Naomi Oreskes, Jennifer Jacquet, Dr. David Michaels, Geoffry Supran, and Jessica Wentz

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 18:12:17 +0000

Taped live at the Harvard Faculty Club, Naomi Oreskes speaks to her forthcoming book The Big Myth, focused on the origin story behind free-market ideology, followed by a panel discussion on how to widen climate accountability to include not only oil companies but also the other industries and enablers that have obstructed climate action.

Additional resources:
UCS Science Hub for Climate Litigation
Climate Social Science Network
Jennifer Jacquet's The Playbook
More from Dr. David Michaels

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Congressional Hearings on Climate Disinformation Reveal Industry PR Playbook

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 13:52:07 +0000

Three Congressional hearings shed a light on climate disinformation this week, with one looking at oil companies' role, another looking at the role of PR firms, and a third looking at corporate attempts to limit the free speech of environmental activists.

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West Virginia Leads on Climate Obstruction

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 17:11:56 +0000

From its state treasurer to its attorney general to its Senator, West Virginia is leading the charge on climate obstruction and dismantling environmental regulation.

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The Supreme Court's Continued Climate Take

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:08:47 +0000

West Virginia vs. EPA was just the beginning of climate cases before the Supreme Court this year. From question the SEC's disclosures to major Clean Water challenges, there's more to come. EarthJustice's Sam Sankar and Kirti Datla join to give us a preview of what's coming up.

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"Woke Capital": A New Front in Climate Obstructionism

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 21:43:54 +0000

Jesse Coleman, senior investigator for Documented, walks us through an eye-opening investigation into the State Financial Officers Federation, an obscure group organizing Republican state treasurers in the fight against "woke capital."

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What the IPCC Really Said About Carbon Dioxide Removal

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 14:47:28 +0000

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) came up in the latest IPCC report and the summary and report itself tell a different story.

The summary is vastly more positive about the potential of this tech (thanks in no small part to influence from Saudi Arabia and the United States), so we're looking at the complete picture of what the report actually says about it. Nikki Reisch and Carroll Muffett from the Center for International Environmental Law join to help.

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West Virginia vs. EPA: Worst-Case Scenario and What Comes Next

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 14:50:33 +0000

The Supreme Court is taking its time in releasing a ruling in the controversial West Virginia vs. EPA case. We explore the roots of the case, its position in rightwing judicial strategy, and what avenues for climate action would remain in a worst-case scenario.

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The "Culture War" Embraces Climate

Tue, 21 Jun 2022 14:11:38 +0000

Jennie King, lead author on a new report on climate disinformation on the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, discusses the reports findings, including how culture warriors—including 16 key superspreaders—have embraced climate denial and disinformation.

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Regulating Greenhouse Gases Under TSCA

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 13:00:02 +0000

As the Supreme Court weights in on West Virginia vs. EPA, a group of climate scientists and advocates filed a petition demanding that the EPA regulate greenhouse gas emissions, not under the Clean Air Act, but under law no one has yet applied to climatee change: the Toxic Substances Control Act.

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Why Is a California Air Board Funding Natural Gas Expansion?

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 08:50:00 +0000

Floodlight's Miranda Green returns with a new story about the push for natural gas in southern California: an air board tasked with cleaning up pollution is giving millions of dollars in grant money to gas projects.

Read the story here.

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Senator Whitehouse on Right-Wing Think Tanks Manipulation

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 18:01:30 +0000

Why does every right-wing think tank have an amicus program? On the surface, it seems to make no sense—is any judge surprised to learn that the Cato Institute is against regulation? These organizations don't waste money, and the presence and size of amicus programs at conservative "public interest" law firms and thinks tanks have grown steadily over the years. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the only politicans publicly speaking about this, shares his thoughts.

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The Diaster Capitalism Response to Russia-Ukraine

Wed, 25 May 2022 04:00:00 +0000

In the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the gas industry is fully embracing it's new role. Right alongside the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, and the United States Chamber of Commerce, the industry moved quickly to capture the narrative in the early days of the invasion, going from disinformation blitz to policy wins within a matter of weeks.

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Australia's "Gas-Fired Recovery," Carbon Capture, and Greenwashing

Thu, 19 May 2022 05:08:17 +0000

Australians head to the polls for the first election since catastrophic bush fires destroyed millions of acres of land and blanketed the country in smoke for weeks. In the lead-up to the election, we examine the government's current climate policies and a risky proposed move to store carbon deep in the ocean.

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The Los Angeles Ports Astroturfing Scheme

Tue, 17 May 2022 15:41:00 +0000

Even before the gas industry started fake grassroots organizations, it was using questionable tactics to stave off electrification. LA Times energy reporter Sam Roth and Floodlight's deputy editor and investigative climate reporter Miranda Green reveal a wild story on manipulation from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Read the story here.

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Exposing an Energy Front Group

Tue, 03 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

When Santa Barbara residents began receiving urgent text messages encouraging them to oppose the gas ban, the messages claimed to be from Citizens for Balanced Energy Solutions, a concered "grassroots" citizens group. But it wasn't a citizens group at all—it was a front group started by the country's largest gas utility.

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The New Climate Villains

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 12:01:00 +0000

For over a decade, fossil gas was promoted as part of the solution to climate change. But while it did help to reduce dependency on coal, limiting CO2 emissions and air pollution, it came with a whole new host of problems. How did the industry go from climate hero to climate villain and how are they dealing with its new role as part of the problem?

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A Busload of COVID

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 09:00:00 +0000

When San Luis Obispo announced its 2020 plan to become the first Southern California city to ban gas in new buildings, SoCal Gas—the largest gas utility in the country—sprung into action, threatening to bus in large numbers of protesters to crowd the town just as the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold in the United States.

Additional resources:
How to stop a climate vote? Threaten a ‘no social distancing’ protest

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Climate One Collaboration: Breaking Down Climate Misinformation

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 21:28:46 +0000

For decades, fossil fuel companies have cast doubt on climate science, delaying action and allowing them to profit. Climate communication experts, such as John Cook, have documented how such companies dismiss, delay, and deflect. They’ve also included a concerted effort to recast political speech, banned and regulated in some contexts, as protected free speech, giving corporations more leeway in broadcasting their messages. In this collaboration with Climate One, we trace the origins of the fossil fuel's free speech arguement and break down the tactics they use to spread misinformation.

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IPCC Report: Conflicts of Interest, Media Manipulation and More

Sat, 09 Apr 2022 04:08:21 +0000

The IPCC mitigation report dropped this week—and it's a doozy. We'll be digging into it throughout the month of April to help you make sense of it all.

Read more: www.drilledpodcast.com

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Responsibilities Not Rights: A Tūhoe Perspective

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 15:05:00 +0000

When Tūhoe negotiated legal personhood for their ancestral homeland Te Urewera, the global rights of nature community cheered. But in this conversation about how the case connects to rights of nature overall, and to the global push for climate action, Tamati Kruger, Tūhoe negotiator and chairman of the board that now oversees Te Urewera, explains that for Tūhoe it's about the responsibilities of people to protect the land and each other—not rights.

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Ecuador's Landmark Rights of Nature Ruling

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 13:44:21 +0000

In our last episode, we explored Ecuador's rights-of-nature journey. Today, Melissa Troutman and Joshua Pribanic, directors of Invisible Hand and co-founders of the journalism organization Public Herald, discuss what the landmark Los Cedros ruling means for not only Ecuador, but the world at large.
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Los Cedros: The Cloud Forest vs. The Mine

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 10:30:03 +0000

Ecuador made history as the first country to adopt rights of nature into its constitution, but its Constitutional Court—Ecuador’s equivalent to the United States Supreme Court—has not heard many cases in the decade since the law was added. The new Constitutional justices made a point of picking several cases to test rights of nature, and in 2021 handed down a major judgement about the future of one of the world's most biodiverse cloud forests.

Subscribe to Damages: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/damages/id1606039896

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West Virginia vs. EPA: Worst-Case Scenario and What Comes Next

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 17:02:22 +0000

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A Brief History of Rights of Nature in the United States

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 20:37:39 +0000

Rights of nature first started making its way into U.S. courtrooms via an unlikely source: Disney. Today it's a huge threat to the fossil fuel industry. So much so that the industry is pushing preemptive bans on rights of nature laws in states across the country.

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Drilled Presents: Damages

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 09:40:00 +0000

Damages follows the hundreds of climate lawsuits currently happening all over the country, first examining rights of nature cases all over the world. In this episode, we start with a case that's making its way through the courts right now, on behalf of wild rice, or manoomin in the Ojibwe language. The rights of manoomin case was originally filed in an effort to stop construction of the Line 3 pipeline. That pipeline has been built, but the case is still active, and it could have major implications for other pipeline fights.

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The Right-Wing Web of Climate Delay

Sat, 12 Feb 2022 06:12:14 +0000

Right-wing funders don't only work on climate denial, voter suppression, or attacks on public schools—they tackle all of it together. Lisa Graves, an expert on right-wing strategy, talks us through the tangled web of funding and ideology fighting against climate action.

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An Update on the Youth Climate Lawsuit

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 16:52:52 +0000

In the 2015 case Juliana v. United States, 21 young adults sued the United States for knowingly driving and exacerbating climate change. In 2021, the 9th Circuit declared that the young people did not have a standing to bring the case—but the Juliana 21 weren't done. It's been mandated back to district court where the plaintiffs are preparing for another round.

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Exxon Takes Its First Amendment Battle to the Texas Supreme Court

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:40:02 +0000

Guardian journalist Chris McGreal breaks down ExxonMobil's attempt to claim lawsuits that hold the company accountable for climate disinformation amounts to a conspiracy against its free speech rights. Reach Chris's story here.

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Reclaiming Environmentalism

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:50:02 +0000

For decades, the fossil fuel industry has successfully framed environmentalists as silly, radical, elitist, or out of touch. And for too long, the climate movement has bought into this framing, self-flagellating for caring about nature and buying into the false divide between humans and nature. It's time to rethink what it means to be an environmentalist.

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Climate Crisis, Meet Democracy Crisis

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 14:20:00 +0000

What happens when the climate crisis collides with the unraveling of American democracy? Max Berger, a longtime progressive organizer who helped incubate the Sunrise Movement and worked with both Cori Bush and Elizabeth Warren, discusses movement building and the climate crisis.

(Check out Scene on Radio's climate season here: http://www.sceneonradio.org/the-repair/)

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Drilled Presents | Scene on Radio, The Repair | Episode 9: Pachamama

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 18:37:00 +0000

In several countries around the world, including Ecuador, New Zealand, and the U.S., some people are trying to protect the planet using a legal concept called “rights of nature”—infusing the law with Indigenous understandings of Mother Earth.

Listen to the complete Scene on Radio season: http://www.sceneonradio.org/the-repair/
Check out Degrees podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/degrees/id1536627537

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The Influence Industry and Climate Obstruction

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 17:34:23 +0000

Groundbreaking new research from Brown University's Dr. Robert Brulle shows just how much oil companies have spent on PR in recent decades, and tracks how PR firms helped to architect climate obstruction. PR whistleblower Christine Arena joins with Dr. Brulle to discuss his research and the many tentacles of the influence industry.

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One PR Firm Works on More Climate Obstruction Than Any Other

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 08:20:00 +0000

In a new study, sociologist Robert Brulle examined which PR firms work for the various industries obstructing climate action. Only one firm was in the top 3 for every single segment. Listen to find out which one, and learn about some of their other contributions to the world of spin

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Fracking the Outback: Australia's Plan to Go Big on Fracking and Plastic

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:21:37 +0000

As the rest of the world is beginning to realize that fracking comes with more downsides than upsides, Australia is readying itself for a fracking boom, eyeing basins on Indigenous land.

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Melissa Aronczyk on the History of Greenwashing

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Melissa Aronczyk, media studies scholar at Rutgers University, is one of my go-to sources on all things disinformation. In this episode, she walks us through the history of environmental PR and how it's shaped the broader disinformation system we're all grappling with today. This history is also the subject of Aronczyk's new book, with co-author Maria Espinoza, A Strategic Nature (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-strategic-nature-9780190055356?cc=us&lang=en&)

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Climate Education in the U.S. with Katie Worth

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 20:47:45 +0000

Reporter Katie Worth has been researching climate education in the United States for years, forming the basis of her new book Miseducation. Here's what she's uncovered.

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Fighting Back Against Big Oil in Education

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 23:50:22 +0000

Over the last five episodes, we've tracked how long the fossil fuel industry has been investing in schools, why, and what impact it's had. Now it's time for the most important question: What can we do about it?

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Ben Franta on Big Oil in College

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 17:19:38 +0000

Here's our full interview with Stanford researcher Ben Franta to discuss fossil fuel influence at universities.

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Big Oil on Campus

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 17:00:12 +0000

By the time students reach college, Big Oil's education strategy reaches it's largest phase: direct influence on curricula and research at the university level.

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Big Oil's High School Agenda

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 18:00:12 +0000

We head to high school, where the fossil fuel industry's efforts to shape Americans' thinking on economics and policy ramps up.

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S5 Update: Donziger Sentenced to Six Months in Jail

Sun, 03 Oct 2021 22:15:31 +0000

Steven Donziger, the attorney who's been on house arrest for more than two years on a contempt charge that arose as a result of his work on the Chevron-Ecuador case, was sentenced Friday October 1st. Judge Loretta Preska handed down the maximum sentence, six months in jail. She also denied bail. Donziger's legal team is appealing both the conviction and the denial of bail, and he remains at home on house arrest pending those appeals.

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How Big Oil Targets Elementary School

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 17:00:19 +0000

Since the 1920s, oil companies have been creating music, activities, books, movies, and more to shape how American elementary-school aged kids think about our society, economy, and environment.

The First Day of School

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 16:30:19 +0000

Long before climate change appeared on the scene, fossil fuel companies were in America's classrooms, shaping young minds. Dharna Noor and Amy Westervelt explore how Big Oil got into the education game, why it worked so well for them, and how the industry limits how Americans are allowed to think about the environment and the economy.

Additional resources:
The ABCs of Big Oil: Why the Fossil Fuel Industry Infiltrated Schools
Pre-order Kate Worth's book, Miseducation.
Check out the Frontline report on the Marshall Islands.

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Drilled + Earther: The ABCs of Big Oil

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 18:16:39 +0000

Alongside Earther reporter Dharna Noor, this multi-part series will explore the fossil fuel industry's influence in schools—shaping our understanding of environmental problems and narrowing the scope of solutions to consider.

Find complementary posts and bonus content on Earther.

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Whack-A-Mole

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 17:58:15 +0000

Frontline communities are facing a whack-a-mole problem: as one facility gets shut down, another pops up. In many ways, the plastic problem itself is a whack-a-mole issue catalyzed by progress in shifting away from fossil fuels in the transport and building sectors. How can policy makers and activists predict and prevent these sorts of problems?

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Keeping Oil Alive

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Investigative journalism project UnEarthed, funded by Greenpeace in the United Kingdom, captured ExxonMobil execs talking through the company's climate playbook. We share an unpublished part of the report, in which a former Exxon lobbyist details the company's, and wider industry's, plans on plastics.

Additional resources:

Watch the ExxonMobil video
Read the story

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And Then There Was COVID

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Just as the fossil fuel industry was starting to worry about demand for single use plastics, along comes a global pandemic that they could leverage to push more of it. And they did! But was it enough to save them entirely?

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Fighting Formosa in Louisiana

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 17:35:00 +0000

Diane Wilson couldn't keep Formosa Plastics out of her Texas town, but down the coast in St. James Parish, Louisiana, Sharon Lavigne is fighting like hell to keep the petrochemical giant out.

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Don't Mess with Texas

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 07:30:00 +0000

How did the fracking boom lead to a plastics boom? We examine how the gas and plastics industries have embedded themselves in society through the story of one petrochemical company operating on the Gulf Coast and two women, one in Louisiana, one in Texas, taking them on.

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Coming Soon: The Bridge to Nowhere

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 07:30:00 +0000

Season 6 explores the natural gas industry in three parts, following he story of Formosa Plastics to explain the direct connection between the fracking boom and plastics surge. Formosa Plastics is a company so notorious for environmental violations that it moved operations abroad, to the American South, to capitlize on weaker regulations.

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Update: Steven Donziger's Trial in New York

Thu, 27 May 2021 03:51:00 +0000

Steven Donziger went to trial for the criminal contempt charge that's kept him on house arrest for 600 days and counting. Paul Paz Y Mino of Amazon Watch brings us an update.

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How Big Oil Made You Feel Guilty About Climate Change

Mon, 17 May 2021 15:39:00 +0000

Harvard science historian Naomi Oreskes reveals how the fossil fuel companies use language targeted specifically to downplay the reality of climate change and shift responsibility entirely onto consumers. Geoffrey Supran, the lead author on the study, joins to discuss.

Additional Resources:
Rolling Stone

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The Heath Impacts of the Coal-to-Gas Transition: Harvard's New Study

Tue, 11 May 2021 04:06:00 +0000

A new study out from Harvard University sheds light on the health impacts of transitioning from coal to other combustible fuels. These findings are important for climate policy, particularly the fact that biomass is a huge contributor to air pollution despite representing only a small percentage of energy generation. The study also finds that natural gas still contributes significantly to air pollution and its associated health impacts.

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Rep. Ro Khanna on Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Biden’s Infrastructure Plan

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

The first Congressional hearing on Earth Day 2021 is focused on fossil fuel subsidies. The elimination of such subsidies was written into Biden's infrastructure bill, and House Democrats want to make sure it stays there. Today's hearing will detail what those subsidies are, why getting rid of them is critical to climate action, and how the government can pull it off without raising the cost of living for average Americans.

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Update: The Latest Developments in the Steven Donziger Case

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 20:46:00 +0000

Steven Donziger is set for trial May 10, but his lawyers have already filed a motion to dismiss, claiming vindictive prosecution. Reporter Karen Savage provides an update.

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Corporate Personhood? What About Ecosystem Personhood

Sat, 10 Apr 2021 04:11:00 +0000

Can ecosystems have legal rights similar to corporations? We talked about rights of nature a bit in the Ecuador-Chevron season—the Latin American country was the first in the world to integrate the concept of rights of nature in its Constitution. Now the Constitutional Court is reviewing its first rights of nature case. United States communities are pursuing the idea as well, and the fossil fuel industry is trying to block rights of nature laws from ever passing. Josh Boaz Pribanic and Melissa Troutman, co-founders of Public Herald join to talk about their new documentary on the rights of nature, Invisible Hand.

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Infrastructure Week: Build Back Better, the THRIVE Act, and Climate Justice with Kaniela Ing

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 16:28:00 +0000

The Biden Administration's Build Back Better plan includes progressive wish list items, but the left is pushing for more. The THRIVE Act, reintroduced by Senator Markey and Representative Dingell is what they're pushing towards and Peoples Action Climate Justice director Kaniela Ing joins to walk us through the asks, and what he's hearing from folks on the ground.

Additional Resources:
THRIVE Agenda
Senator Markey, Rep. Dingell Reintroduce THRIVE Resolution to Build Back Economy Following Coronavirus Pandemic

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All Eyes on Weymouth: FERC Signals Interest in Environmental Justice

Sat, 27 Mar 2021 07:24:00 +0000

For years, local activists and legislators have been fighting the Enrbidge natural gas compressor in Weymouth, Massachusetts, arguing it poses serious health risks to a community already overburdened by pollution. The project was approved by FERC in 2019, built and became operational in 2020. Then it had an emergency shutdown. And another. Now FERC is considering the unprecedented move of re-thinking its permit, a decision that could have broad ramifications.

Additional resources:
Why A Federal Order In The Weymouth Compressor Case Has The Natural Gas World Worried

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How the Fossil Fuel Industry is Undermining Free Speech

Sat, 20 Mar 2021 02:22:00 +0000

Across the United States, fossil fuel-backed anti-protest laws are reshaping the rights to protest and to free speech. 14 states have based new laws, and are passing through statehouses in several more states, including six different bills in Minnesota, the only state with a big pipeline fight this year: Line 3. Researcher Connor Gibson joins to talk us through how this all started and where it's at.

Additional resources:
States Quietly Pass Laws Criminalizing Fossil Fuel Protests Amid Coronavirus Chaos
4 More States Propose Harsh New Penalties For Protesting Fossil Fuels
Increasing penalties for damaging energy infrastructure
A refinery lobbyist told Kansas legislators that his anti-protest bill has "nothing to do with protest"

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Frackalachia: The Fracking Jobs Myth in Appalachia

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 23:19:00 +0000

When a report makes oil and gas companies—and the politicians they help elect—this mad, you know the author is on to something.

Researcher Sean O'Leary, with the Ohio River Valley Institute, talks about his new report, which found that the local economic benefit of fracking to communities in the Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia gas corridor was slim to none.

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The API Was Pushing Climate Denial Way Earlier Than Anyone Thought

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 15:42:19 +0000

Stanford researcher Ben Franta joins to talk about a bombshell new discovery: the American Petroleum Institute not only knew about climate change back in the 70s, it started pushing climate denial as early as 1980.

Read Ben's article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09644016.2020.1863703

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¿Ahora Que?: What's Next for Donziger, Chevron and Ecuador

Sat, 19 Dec 2020 00:34:00 +0000

Steven Donziger remains under house arrest and collecting the Ecuadorian settlement seems impossible, so what happens next? We explore what this case says about accountability, the power of oil companies, and the options that remain for Ecuadorians seeking justice.

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The Kill Step: Chevron Fights the Ecuadorian Government

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 15:59:00 +0000

Chevron pushes its fight against the Ecuadorian judgement, while Steven Donziger loses his RICO appeal and faces disbarment and contempt charges.

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The Judge: Corruption Charges Hit the Courts

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 10:00:00 +0000

As the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) case gets underway, corruption charges against the United States and Ecuadorian judges surface.

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Damages: Chevron's Shocking Racketeering Claim

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 21:02:00 +0000

Chevron's legal team shocks the Ecuadorian plantiffs with a massive racketeering claim in the United States, alleging fraud, witness tampering, and bribery.

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The Linchpin: Joe Berlinger

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Chevron's attorneys go after Joe Berlinger, the filmmaker behind Crude, the documentary about the Lago Agrio case. They subpoena his outtakes, kicking off a years-long First Amendment battle.

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Big Oil's Bad Bet on Plastic

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 23:52:00 +0000

A new Carbon Tracker report finds that the fossil fuel industry is pinning its hopes on a plastic boom. Try as it might, demand isn't materializing. The report's author, Kingsmill Bond, joins us.

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Update: Steven Donziger Faces Criminal Contempt with No Representation

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 23:17:00 +0000

New York District Court Judge Loretta Preska has denied repeated requests to delay Steven Donziger's criminal contempt trial, leaving him without legal representation. He'll stand trial Monday November 9, after which he could face six months of jail time. Reporter Karen Savage updates on the latest and we hear from attorneys Lauren Regan and Ronald Kuby about the precedent this ruiling sets.

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The Charge: Chevron Faces a Verdict

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 10:00:00 +0000

The Lago Agrio case takes a bizarre turn with a sting operation, United States subpoenas, and accusations of frad and bribery before a verdict is finally reached.

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The Big Guns: Chevron's Legal Offensive

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0000

As Ecuadorian plaintiffs gain press, public support, and an endorsement from the country's president, Chevron kicks things up a notch, bringing in new lawyers and a PR firm to rewrite the story.

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The Secret Tribunal: Chevron vs. Ecuador

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 15:06:00 +0000

In September 2009, Chevron filed an international arbitration claim against the Ecuadorian government over the Lago Agrio case. In the years since, Chevron has pointed to the decisions of the arbitral panel as akin to court decisions, but they're not one in the same—arbitral tribunals exist to help companies protect their profits and are largely conducted in secret. Marcos Orellana explains how this shadowy system impacts global climate action.

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The Trial: Oil and Justice in Ecuador

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 15:02:00 +0000

The fight for justice in Ecuador's Amazon moves to the courtroom, while an election changes the political landscape and a global PR war kicks into high gear.

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The Colonizers: How Oil and Missionaries Shaped the Amazon

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000

How did the Amazon's oil conflict come about in the first place? We go back to the 1960s, the early days of oil colonialism in Ecuador, when the partnerships between oil men and missionaries began and disrupted Indigenous communities.

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La Lucha En La Jungla: Pollution in the Amazon

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 09:00:00 +0000

In August 2019, an American lawyer was placed under house arrest while awaiting trial for criminal contempt, stemming from a decades-long case that began with polution in the Amazon. The cas has since spanned continents and courtrooms while the victims—indigenous tribes in the Ecuadorian Amazon—continue to seek justice. This is season 5: La Lucha En La Jungla.

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Big Oil vs. Divestment

Sat, 22 Aug 2020 04:25:00 +0000

TheTrump administration proposed a rule that would make it harder for financial managers to investment retirement funds in environmentally or socially responsible ways. The fossil fuel industry praised the rule, noting that the divestment movement has become a serious problem and reduced its access to capital. Journalist David Sirota broke that story and joins us to explain. PLUS: a sneak peek of season 5 of Drilled.

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Bribery and Bailouts: The Ohio Utility Scandal

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 03:12:00 +0000

The FBI arrested Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder for racketeering or, as the state attorney general put it, "bribery, that's what it was." Private utility FirstEnergy paid politicians, including Householder, to pass a corporate bailout to keep coal and nuclear plants open while blocking renewables. Leah Stokes, University of California Santa Barbara political science professor and author of Short Circuiting Policy, explains how it all went down.

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The Netherlands Considers a Fossil Fuel Advertising Ban

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 02:58:00 +0000

An advocacy group in the Netherlands is calling for a ban on fossil fuel ads. Campaigner Femke Sleegers joins us to explain the roots of the campaign, its goal, and the initial response to it.

Additional resources:
Ban Fossil Fuel Advertising; a Dutch Citizens’ Initiative

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Fracking Giant Chesapeake Energy Declares Bankruptcy

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 05:14:00 +0000

Despite tax breaks, royalty cuts, and other COVID-19 incentives, Chesapeake Energy, a pioneer in the American fracking industry, has declared bankruptcy. We explore why the pandemic isn't to blame and what the says about government bailouts for struggling fossil fuel companies.

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Minnesota and D.C. File Climate Fraud Suits

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 08:06:00 +0000

Two new lawsuits, in Minnesota and D.C., were filed within 24 hours of each other and allege the same thing: that fossil fuel companies misled consumers about climate change.

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Big Oil's Multi-Billion-Dollar Blind Spot

Thu, 18 Jun 2020 05:34:00 +0000

A new Carbon Tracker report finds that oil and gas companies have been grossly underestimating the cost for plugging and abandoning wells, particularly for fracking wells. The report co-authors Rob Schuwerk and Greg Rogers break down the scale of the problem, the cost, and who will ultimately foot the bill.

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From Hot Take: Yes, We Still Need to Talk About Climate

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 18:12:00 +0000

Amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, some climate activists have been saying "now's not the time to talk about climate." On Hot Take, Mary Annaise Hegler and Amy Westervelt discuss the idea that climate and racial justice are connected and influence one another. Find Hot Take here.

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Naomi Klein on "Disaster Capitalism" in America

Sun, 07 Jun 2020 05:46:00 +0000

Naomi Klein describes how "disaster capitalism," the corporate feeding frenzy that happens in the wake of major crisis, is playing out in America right now. On a research trip to post-Katrina New Orleans for her book The Shock Doctrine, she connected her work on human rights and labor to climate, and shares what needs to happen, including the Green New Deal, to spur a justice-focused transformation in the United States.

You can find Naomi's works here.

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New Investigation Finds Shell Directly Funded Climate Denial

Fri, 29 May 2020 20:45:00 +0000

A major investigative report from the Netherlands has uncovered new evidence that Royal Dutch Shell directly funded climate science denial in the 1990s. Reporters Alexander Beunder and Jilles Mast have been combing through 150+ boxes of documents from the personal archive of Fritz Böttcherone, one of the Netherlands' top climate skeptics during the 1990s, and made a shocking discovery: throughout his career Böttcher received direct funding from Royal Dutch Shell. It's part of a large project called the Shell Papers at the Platform for Authentic Journalism, in the Netherlands.

Additional resources:
Shorter summary of Böttcher report:
How Shell Backed Dutch ‘Coordinator’ of Climate Science Denial For Decades

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From Hot Take: Why the GOP's "Climate Lockdown" Narrative is Wrong

Fri, 22 May 2020 17:27:00 +0000

The New York Times recenty ran a story on the GOP's new climate narrative: that the Dems imposing climate action will be worse than the pandemic quarantine. In this episode from Hot Take, Mary Annaise Heglar and Amy Westervelt look at how the narrative emerged, why it's striking a nerve, and how to wrestle the climate story back. Find Hot Take here.

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The Death of Fred Singer and the Endurance of Climate Deniers

Tue, 19 May 2020 18:06:00 +0000

In April 2020, Fred Singer, longtime "king" of the climate deniers, died at the age of 95. Singer played a key role in shaping the history of science denial. Investigative reporter Dan Zegart, author of the book Civil Warriors, and Connor Gibson, an investigator with Greenpeace, discuss the climate denial machine Singer built, the legacy he leaves behind, and whether the COVID-19 pandemic may topple science denial and fake free marketeteering forever.

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A Lawsuit Could Force FERC to Consider Climate Impacts of New Oil and Gas Projects

Sat, 09 May 2020 02:27:00 +0000

A lawsuit filed against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over a small Massachusetts project could have nationwide implications. The lawsuit aims to force FERC to evaluate the overall emissions and climate change impact of any new energy project—something the courts ordered the agency to do yers ago and has particular relevance right now as FERC has been rapidly approving new energy infrastructure. Adam Carlesco, lead attorney for the plantiffs, walks us through the case.

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What Planet of the Humans Gets Wrong About Climate Change

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 21:49:00 +0000

The Michael Moore–produced documentary Planet of the Humans sparked controversy around renewable energy. Political scientist and environmental policy expert Leah Stokes joins us to discuss the many things the new film gets wrong about environmentalists and the fight for climate action.

Additional resources:
Michael Moore produced a film about climate change that’s a gift to Big Oil

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Earth Day in Louisiana: A Petro-state Fights Back

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 10:03:00 +0000

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and a decade after the BP Deepwarter oil spill, we head to Louisiana to examine petrochemicals, petroleum, plastic, fossil fuel philanthropy, and the impact the pandemic is having on it all.

Additional resources:
Bucket Brigade
Healthy Gulf

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Art, Autodesk, and What Accountability Looks Like for the Tech Industry

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 07:48:00 +0000

Joanie Lemercier has been a thorn in software company Autodesk's side for more than a year now, since the French artist first pointed out that Autodesk's computer-aided drafting (CAD) software keeps Europe's largest coal mine operating. Tech reporter Maddie Stone investigates how the software is used by not only coal mines but also to design oil and gas pipelines, raising urgent questions about climate accountability in tech.

Read Maddie's feature here.

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How Big Oil is Using COVID-19 to Push Plastic

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 14:18:00 +0000

A new report from the Center for International Environmental Law examines how oil, gas, and petrochemical companies are leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic to push policy and increase profits. Carroll Muffet walks us through key points of the report, including how the industries are using the pandemic to boost single-use plastics.

Read Pandemic Crisis, Systemic Decline: Why Exploiting the COVID-19 Crisis Will Not Save the Oil, Gas, and Plastics Industries.

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Held Hostage by Fracking: Colorado Seniors Shelter In Place

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 04:02:00 +0000

As shelter-in-place orders went into effect, residents of Broomfield, Colorado faced exposure to flowback-driven air pollution thanks to their proximity to oil and gas operations. When the city issued an emergency decree to local operations to cease fracking flowback during the pandemic, Extraction Oil filed for a restraining order to block the city's decree. It's the first test of Colorado's 2019 law prioritizing public health and safety over oil and gas production, which allows local governments to set stringent safeguards.

Additional resources:
Climate-COVID-19 policy tracker

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New Research Shows Fossil Fuels Are Not As Essential As The Industry Would Like You to Believe

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 15:05:00 +0000

Fossil fuel use has certainly grown GDP, but it has had no effect on life expectancy. In other words, the industry's "benefit" has acrrued to relatively few humans.

Dr. Julia Steinberger, professor of social ecology and ecological economics at the University of Leeds, has published research debunking classic fossil fuel narratives around the industry's importance to society and human wellbeing. Read her study, "Your Money or Your Life?" Environmental Research Letters, here.

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Texas Shale Refineries Release "Unimaginable" Amounts of Methane Emissions

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 06:11:00 +0000

Field investigator Sharon Wilson has spotted a troubling increase in methane emissions from refineries in the Permian Basin, in Texas. Things went from bad to worse in January 2020, and really blew up in early March ... almost as though they knew regulators wouldn't be watching.

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Why ExxonMobil and Chevron Oppose a Shale Gas Bailout

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 17:19:00 +0000

The American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil and Chevron have been amongst the biggest opponents to bailouts for shale gas companies as part of the coronavirus relief package. DeSmog's Justin Mikulka explains why.

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How Big Oil Exploited the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 02:39:00 +0000

The oil and gas industry was headed for financial collapse long before COVID-19, but now the Trump administration wants to use the pandemic to put it on life support. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute is using the pandemic to get the industry's deregulation wishlist.

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From Hot Take: Seeing Climate Through Coronavirus Glasses with David Wallace-Wells

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 03:13:00 +0000

Hot Take hosts Mary Annaise Heglar and Amy Westervelt talk to David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth and deputy editor of New York magazine, about the intersection of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.

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Tackling Disinformation: Jay Rosen & Nicholas Johnson on the Media’s Role

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 08:01:00 +0000

What can be done about Big Oil disinformation now? New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen and former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson join us to talk about everything from the Fairness Doctrine to cable access to today's "post-fact" world, and where we can really go from here. Special thanks to Mary Catherine O'Connor for additional reporting.

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Meet the Harrisons: Architects of Greenwashing and Environmental PR

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 09:27:00 +0000

E. Bruce and Patricia Harrison launched the E. Bruce Harrison Company in 1973, working for a mix of chemical companies, oil and gas companies, and tobacco companies. E. Bruce is considered the father of environmental public relations—or by his critics, "the godfather of greenwashing."

The Harrisons ran multiple cross-industry coalitions and front groups, aimed primarily at stopping regulation on everything from smoking to carbon emissions. Today, Ms. Harrison is the president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a position she's held since 2005.

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The Tobacco-Oil-Plastic Triangle

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 08:05:00 +0000

John Hill, founder of Hill & Knowlton, was an Ivy Lee devotee who worked for Standard Oil in the 1930s, strategized against labor movements and the New Deal, and wound up representing the American Petroleum Institute and the Tobacco Industry Research Committee—a fake research group formed by the CEOs of all the major tobacco companies in the 1950s—at the very same time. His manipulation skills were so good they even fooled the legendary Edward R. Murrow.

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The Origins of Corporate PR Manipulation

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 08:01:00 +0000

Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, coined the term "public relations" when propaganda started to become a negative term. His specialty was using psychological know-how to manipulate the masses and orchestrate cultural shifts in his clients' favor (clients like Standard Oil, the American Tobacco Company, and General Motors).

Decades later, W. Howard Chase built onto that foundation with the idea of issues management—predicting an industry's potential issues, and manipulating political, social, and cultural forces to neutralize them. Chase is responsible for one of the best-known examples of greenwashing, the so-called "crying Indian ad," which introduced the idea of "litter bugs" and individual responsibility for pollution.

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Guardian Bans Fossil Fuel Ads: Emily Atkin Talks with CEO Anna Bateson

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:01:00 +0000

We'll be back with more Mad Men tales next week, we promise! While we're out chasing leads, listen to this great interview from Emily Atkin with The Guardian's interim CEO Anna Bateson about that publication's decision to stop taking ads from fossil fuel companies.

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Transcript and more info here: https://www.drillednews.com/

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Oil Slick, Part 2: False Equivalence and Free Speech

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 08:00:00 +0000

In part two of our episode on former Mobil VP Herb Schmertz, we dig into how Schmertz's approach bred false equivalence, and why he pushed so hard for the extension of First Amendment rights to corporations.

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Oil Slick, Part 1: Mobil's PR Mastermind and the Rise of the Corporate Persona

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 08:01:00 +0000

Mobil Oil's Herb Schmertz humanized the oil company, creating the "corporate persona," fighting for First Amendment rights to extend to corporations, and laying the groundwork for decades of aggressive media manipulation.

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Psychological Warfare and Big Oil

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 07:53:00 +0000

Daniel Edelman learned the tools of his trade combating Nazi propaganda in WWII, then came home and put his psychological warfare training to work for American industry, including tobacco and Big Oil.

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The Oil-Nazi-Propaganda Triangle

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 08:06:00 +0000

Ivy Lee worked with Standard Oil and the Rockefellers to establish the American Petroleum Institute in 1919, as well as a petrochemicals partnership with German chemical giant IG Farben. That job took Lee to Germany, to meet with Goebbels and Hitler and advise them on dealing with the American press. He was under investigation by Congress for his role in Nazi propaganda at the time of his death. Lee's work building the API was one of his most important contributions to fossil fuel propaganda—it's the foundation on which the next 100 years was built.

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The Father of Public Relations

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 08:00:00 +0000

In order to understand Big Oil's propaganda machine, and why it's been so effective, we have to go back more than 100 years to Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller and his son, a bloody miners' strike, and the very first PR guy who swooped in to clean it all up.

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Coming Soon: The Mad Men of Climate Denial

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 07:52:23 +0000

Big Oil gave Hitler propaganda tips decades ago and their PR machine has only grown from there. Explore the history of fossil fuel propaganda and the "Mad Men of climate denial" PR strategists that shaped it.

Coming January 2020.

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Youth Climate Suits and Inter-generational Injustice

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 19:46:00 +0000

Young people around the world are taking governments to court over climate change—and winning global attention in the process. We breakdown the Juliana vs. United States case, where a group of young people sued the government for incentivizing increased fossil fuel dependence, thereby robbing the next generation of the pursuit for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Others, like Greta Thunberg, filed a complaint with the United Nations that top fossil fuel-producing countries were violating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As both suits move forward, we take a look at how they differ from climate liability cases, what makes them so compelling, and where they might head next.

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ExxonMobil NY Fraud Trial Recap: What the Verdict Means for Big Oil

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 07:39:00 +0000

New York's fraud trial against ExxonMobil closed November 7th. Reporter Emily Gertz and Union of Concerned Scientist's Kathy Mulvey bring us their takes on this and Exxon's next fraud trial.

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Fake Reporters and Energy Blogs: How Big Oil Spins Climate News

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 18:45:00 +0000

A look at how fossil fuel-backed deception campaigns are continuing today, behind layers of energy industry organizations, alliances, and "news" sites.

Additional resources:
Western Energy Alliance 990, showing global oil execs on its board: https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2016/840/700/2016-840700841-0e72e02b-9O.pdf

More on the formation of Energy In Depth

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Big Oil Ramps Up PR Spend and Oil Production

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 18:45:00 +0000

Since the Paris Agreement in 2016, the fossil fuel industry has ramped up both oil production and greenwashing. We break down how the industry manipulates public perception and mainstream media.

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Facing Extinction

Mon, 20 May 2019 09:00:00 +0000

As the crabbers' 2018-2019 season comes to an abrupt end, they prepare for a year that could see the fishery close altogether.

Meanwhile, Big Oil pushes to dismiss the crabbers' climate suit, forcing the question: Which industries do we protect, and which do we let go? As natural resources are increasingly impacted by climate change, who will pick the winners and losers and how will we survive?

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David vs. Goliath

Mon, 13 May 2019 09:00:00 +0000

As the first industry to sue Big Oil, the West Coast crab fishery is likely to meet an even tougher fight than the states, counties, and cities trying to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. Oil companies invoke the First Amendment and highlight that commercial fishermen are themselves consumers of fossil fuels, but it remains to be seen whether those arguments stick, especially in a world increasingly educated and worried about climate change.

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Taking Big Oil to Court

Mon, 06 May 2019 12:52:00 +0000

As West Coast crabbers file a historic lawsite against the world's 30 largest fossil fuel producers, we examine the evidence and what exactly sent fisherman—particularly more conservative ones—to court.

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Two Lawsuits, One Industry: Crab Fishermen Take on Big Oil

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 08:00:00 +0000

Facing repeated closures due to climate change, crabbers learn new information that spurs them to take action and become the first industry to sue Big Oil.

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West Coast Crab Fisheries Face a Shaky Future

Mon, 22 Apr 2019 08:30:00 +0000

As 2015's late season continues to impact West Cost crab fishers, many fisherman are getting desperate and facing uncertainty. Some are forced out of business, while others worry that this is the new normal under climate change.

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West Coast Crab Fishermen vs. Big Oil

Mon, 22 Apr 2019 08:00:00 +0000

In 2015, climate change shut down West Coast crab fisheries, disrupting ecosystems, food chains, and livelihoods. Scientists had warned the oil industry this would happen for decades. We explore how the fisherman community is fighting back.

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Coming Soon: Hot Water

Wed, 03 Apr 2019 08:16:21 +0000

In 2015, a "warm water blob", the result of both warming oceans and shifting wind patterns, wreaked havoc on West Coast fishing towns. Three years into a new reality in which climate change has shifted the marine food web, they're fighting back. West Coast crab fishermen just became the first industry to take on Big Oil for its role in not only contributing to climate change, but creating climate denial. Get the full story of these unlikely climate activists in a new six-part series, dropping April 22.

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Big Oil’s First Amendment Defense: Can Climate Denial Be Protected Speech?

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 19:44:00 +0000

ExxonMobile is invoking the First Amendment to fight lawsuits over climate change, accusing counties, cities, and states of conspiring to quash its rights to political speech.

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Winning the War: Fighting Back Against Decades of Climate Delay

Tue, 09 Oct 2018 07:22:00 +0000

Fossil fuel disinformation and campaigns have cost the world 30 years of action, but all is not lost.

The technology to address climate change exists and if there's one thing about America's history, it's that radical social change is entirely possible.

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Climate Denial Campaigns So Successful They’re Now in Court

Tue, 02 Oct 2018 20:50:00 +0000

The fossil fuel industry's decades-long information war left the public skeptical of climate change, even as oil companies themselves publicly accepted the science. Fewer Americans believe in the need to act on climate change than did 30 years ago, despite surmountable evidence. Industry campaigns were so successful they've now landed oil companies in court, facing multiple suits attempting to hold them accountable for the damages inflicted by unchecked climate change.

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The First Step to Influencing Policy: Setting Research Agendas

Tue, 25 Sep 2018 16:59:00 +0000

By the early 2000s, oil companies were funding prestigious university research centers to subtly steer climate narrative, shaping the academic research that would eventually inform policy.

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Shaping Culture and Faith: How Big Oil Influenced Climate Conversations

Tue, 18 Sep 2018 16:55:00 +0000

To make media manipulation and lobbying truly effective, oil companies and their PR firms had to shift the culture, influencing everything from civil discourse to how religious groups viewed climate change.

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Weaponizing False Equivalence

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 14:05:00 +0000

Climate disinformation ramped up in the 1990s, with oil companies and their PR firms exploiting media weaknesses and propping up "contrarian" scientists to push the narrative of scientific uncertainty, ultimately shaping how journalists reported on the climate.

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The Turn: How Big Oil Shifted from Innovation to Climate Denial

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 10:50:00 +0000

As the price of oil dipped in the early 1980s, oil companies and the industry at large became concerned with protecting their core business rather than expanding in new directions and becoming "energy companies." Innovation took a backseat and the campaigns to undermine climate science began.

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The Bell Labs of Energy: How Exxon Led Early Climate Research

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 05:58:00 +0000

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Exxon wanted to be the Bell Labs of energy, hiring brilliant scientists to conduct cutting-edge research on the "greenhouse effect" and renewable energy. At the time, there was bipartisan support around the idea of tackling global warming and a sense that American innovation was up to the task.

To see the documents referenced in this episode, check out the timeline on drilled.media.

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Exploiting Scientists' Kryptonite: How Oil Companies Weaponized Uncertainty

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Oil companies targeted scientists' biggest weakness—their refusal to be absolutely certain about anything—to sow doubt about climate change. In addition to using journalists' views on their own objectivity against them, uncertainty became a tool for misinformation.

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Drilled: A True Crime Podcast About Climate Change

Mon, 28 May 2018 15:37:00 +0000

Launching November 14th, Drilled is a limited series investigative true-crime podcast about the crime of the century: the creation of climate denial.

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