Drilled

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Subscribe to our newsletter!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 BombSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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? Visit https://brilliant.org/Drilled for 30 days free and 20% off a subscription. Subscribe to our newsletter for curated weekly climate news.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 LitigationClimate Social Science NetworkJennifer Jacquet's The PlaybookMore from Dr. David MichaelsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From its state treasurer to its attorney general to its Senator, West Virginia is leading the charge on climate obstruction and dismantling environmental regulation.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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’ protestSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Subscribe to Damages so you won't miss future episodes! https://podlink.to/damagesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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/id1606039896See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.