Drilled

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’ InitiativeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Support us on Patreon See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 DecadesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 OilSupport us on Patreon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 BrigadeHealthy GulfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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 trackerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptCheck out our sister podcast, Hot Take.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptCheck out our sister podcast, Hot Take.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptCheck out our sister podcast, Hot Take.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptCheck out our sister podcast, Hot Take.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon Transcript and more info here: https://www.drillednews.com/ Subscribe to Heated Follow us on TwitterSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Support us on Patreon.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Read the transcriptCheck out our sister podcast, Hot Take.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Support us on Patreon.Read more from Drilled. Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Follow us on Twitter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Support us on Patreon.Read more from Drilled.Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Follow us on Twitter. Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter, subscribe here: https://heated.world/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us on Patreon.Read more from Drilled. Extra tidbits in the Heated newsletter.Follow us on Twitter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.Support us on Patreon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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?  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.