Drilled

A Brief History of Rights of Nature in the U.S.

February 24, 2022 20:37 - 31 minutes - 72.3 MB

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.

Drilled Presents: Damages

February 18, 2022 09:40 - 32 minutes - 44.3 MB

Damages is following the hundreds of climate lawsuits currently happening all over the country. First up, in Season 1, a look at 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 c...

The Right-Wing Web of Climate Delay, with Lisa Graves

February 12, 2022 06:12 - 34 minutes - 80 MB

Right-wing funders don't just work on climate change, or voter suppression, or attacks on public schools, they tackle all of it together. In this episode, expert Lisa Graves talks us through the tangled web of funding and ideology fighting against climate action.

An Update on the Big U.S. Youth Climate Lawsuit

January 28, 2022 16:52 - 27 minutes - 63.9 MB

Back in 2015, twenty-one young people sued the United States for its actions to drive and exacerbate climate change. The case, Juliana v. United States, looked like it was done for back in 2021 when the 9th Circuit declared the young people did not have standing to bring the case and declined to grant a rehearing, but it's been mandated back to district court where the Juliana 21 have amended their complaint and are gearing up for round 2.

Exxon Takes Its First Amendment Battle to Texas Supreme Court

January 21, 2022 10:40 - 19 minutes - 43.7 MB

Guardian journalist Chris McGreary joins to discuss ExxonMobil's attempts in Texas to cast litigation against it as a conspiracy to muzzle its free speech rights. Read Chris's story: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/exxon-texas-courts-critics-climate-crimes

Redefining Environmentalists

January 14, 2022 10:50 - 15 minutes - 34.7 MB

For decades, the fossil fuel industry has successfully framed environmentalists as silly, elitist, radical, and out of touch. And for a long time the climate movement has gone along with it, self-flagellating for caring about nature, buying into the idea that humans and nature are separate. It's well past time to rethink what it means to be an environmentalist.

Climate Crisis, Meet Democracy Crisis

January 07, 2022 14:20 - 31 minutes - 43.4 MB

A conversation with Max Berger, a longtime progressive organizer who helped incubate the Sunrise Movement and has also worked in the past for Cori Bush and Elizabeth Warren, about movement building, the climate crisis, and the current unraveling of American democracy. (Check out Scene on Radio's climate season here: http://www.sceneonradio.org/the-repair/)

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

December 17, 2021 18:37 - 43 minutes - 60.1 MB

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

The Influence Industry and Climate Obstruction

December 10, 2021 17:34 - 31 minutes - 73 MB

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.

One PR Firm Works on More Climate Obstruction Than Any Other

December 07, 2021 08:20 - 26 minutes - 36.6 MB

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

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

November 26, 2021 15:21 - 27 minutes - 62.9 MB

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.

Melissa Aronczyk on the History of Greenwashing

November 19, 2021 10:00 - 51 minutes - 70.6 MB

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&)

The ABCs of Oil | Katie Worth on the State of Climate Education in the U.S.

November 05, 2021 20:47 - 18 minutes - 42.1 MB

Reporter Katie Worth has been researching climate education in the U.S. for years and that research forms the basis of her new book Miseducation. In this interview we delve into what she found.

The ABCs of Big Oil | So... What Do We Do About This?

October 29, 2021 23:50 - 29 minutes - 67 MB

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. In this episode, we look at what can be done, and who's trying to do it.

The ABCs of Big Oil | Ben Franta Talks to Us About Big Oil on Campus

October 22, 2021 17:19 - 59 minutes - 81.4 MB

Bringing you our entire interview with Stanford researcher Ben Franta on fossil fuel influence at universities because it was just too good not to share. Check out Degrees pod: https://link.chtbl.com/degrees?sid=podcast.SHOWNAME

The ABCs of Big Oil | Ep 4: We're Going Streaking

October 15, 2021 17:00 - 33 minutes - 77.7 MB

We're wrapping up our series with Earther this week, with a look at how fossil fuel companies influence curricula and research at the university level. (Also working on a bonus episode on solutions to this problem, stay tuned for that!)

The ABCs of Big Oil | Ep 3: High School

October 08, 2021 18:00 - 27 minutes - 63.8 MB

In the third episode of our mini-series with Earther, we head to high school, where the fossil fuel industry's efforts to shape Americans' thinking on economics and policy really ramps up.

S5 Update: Donziger Sentenced to Six Months in Jail

October 03, 2021 22:15 - 36 minutes - 50.5 MB

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.

The ABCs of Big Oil | Ep 2: Elementary School

October 01, 2021 17:00 - 23 minutes - 53.5 MB

Since the 1920s, oil companies have been creating music, activities, coloring books, comic books, movies and more to shape how American kids think about society, the economy, and the environment. Today, we look at their efforts in elementary school. Read more: www.earther.com

Presenting Scene on Radio, Season 5: The Repair

October 01, 2021 01:07 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MB

Drilled host Amy Westervelt is co-hosting this season of the documentary podcast Scene on Radio, all about the climate crisis—what drove it and what could propel the world out of it. If you like what you hear in episode 1, you can keep listening here: http://www.sceneonradio.org/the-repair/

The ABCs of Big Oil | Ep 1: First Day of School

September 24, 2021 16:30 - 38 minutes - 87.1 MB

Fossil fuel companies didn't start infiltrating schools when climate change appeared on the scene, they were there shaping the minds of future citizens for decades before then. The industry has been laying the groundwork for inaction on climate since long before this crisis reared its ugly head, limiting how Americans are allowed to think about the environment and the economy. In this first episode of our new miniseries with Earther, Dharna Noor and Amy Westervelt look at how Big Oil first go...

Drilled + Earther Present: The ABCs of Big Oil

September 13, 2021 18:16 - 3 minutes - 4.76 MB

In this collaboration with Earther, we look at the fossil fuel industry's influence in school—not just in shaping our understanding of environmental problems, but also in narrowing the spectrum of solutions we're allowed to consider. Earther reporter Dharna Noor co-hosts, and we'll be bringing you a four-part series over the next several weeks. Subscribe so you won't miss it! And make sure to check out the Earther site for complementary posts and web bonuses.

S6 Part 1 | Plastic Pipelines | Ep 5: Whack-a-Mole

September 13, 2021 17:58 - 25 minutes - 58.4 MB

In the final episode of part 1 in our Bridge to Nowhere season, we look at the chronic whack-a-mole problem in frontline communities. Just as one facility gets shut down or cleaned up, another is waiting to take its place. In a lot of 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?

S6 Part 1 | Plastic Pipelines | Ep 4: Keeping Oil Alive

August 06, 2021 08:00 - 17 minutes - 40.4 MB

The team at UnEarthed, an investigative journalism project funded by Greenpeace in the UK, went undercover and got ExxonMobil execs on tape talking through the company's climate playbook in detail. Today, an unpublished part of that report, in which a former Exxon lobbyist details the company's and the industry's plans on plastics. More from UnEarthed: Watch the ExxonMobil video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFBjcrU5Pc&ab_channel=GreenpeaceUnearthed Read the story: https://unearthed.gre...

S6 Part 1 | Plastic Pipelines | Ep 3: And Then There Was Covid...

July 30, 2021 08:00 - 21 minutes - 50 MB

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 the stuff. And they did! But was it enough to save them entirely?

S6 Part 1 | Plastic Pipelines | Ep2: Erasing the Imaginary Line

July 23, 2021 17:35 - 26 minutes - 60.3 MB

Diane Wilson couldn't keep Formosa out of her town, but down the coast in Louisiana the community in St. James Parish, led by Sharon Lavigne, is fighting like hell to keep them out.

S6 Part 1 | Plastic Pipelines | Ep 1: Don't Mess with Texas

July 16, 2021 07:30 - 25 minutes - 57.3 MB

This time we're doing something a little different: a season in three parts, all about the gas industry and how it's managed to embed itself into society. First up, Part 1 Plastic Pipelines: A look at how the fracking boom led to a plastics boom, through the story of one petrochemical company operating on the Gulf Coast, and the two women—one in Texas, the other in Louisiana—taking them on.

Welcome to S6: The Bridge to Nowhere

June 17, 2021 07:30 - 3 minutes - 5.43 MB

A new season about the natural gas industry, presented in three parts. Coming soon, Part 1: Pipelines to Plastic about the direct connection between the fracking boom and the plastics boom, told through the story of Formosa Plastics, a company with an environmental record so bad it couldn't get permits in its own country so it searched the globe for a new home, with weaker environmental regulations, and found it in the American South.

Update: Donziger's Trial in New York

May 27, 2021 03:51 - 19 minutes - 26.7 MB

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 on the trial

Climate Guilt, Brought to You by Big Oil

May 17, 2021 15:39 - 18 minutes - 25.8 MB

A new study from Harvard science historians Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran points to the use of 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. Study: https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(21)00233-5 Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/climate-change-exxonmobil-harvard-study-1169682/

New Study: The Health Impacts of the Coal-to-Gas Transition

May 11, 2021 04:06 - 17 minutes - 24 MB

A new study out from Harvard University explores the health impacts of transitioning from coal to other combustible fuels. The 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 and that natural gas still contributes significantly to air pollution and its associated health impacts.

Rep Ro Khanna on Fossil Fuel Subsidies

April 22, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutes - 13.9 MB

It's Earth Day 2021 and the first Congressional hearing of the day is focused on fossil fuel subsidies. Their elimination was written into Biden's infrastructure bill, and House Democrats want to make sure that provision stays in the bill. 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. Watch the hearing at 10am ET: https://oversight.hou...

S5 Update: Latest on Donziger's Case

April 17, 2021 20:46 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MB

Steven Donziger, the American attorney we profiled in S5 is scheduled for trial May 10th, but his lawyers have filed another motion to dismiss, alleging vindictive prosecution. Karen Savage joins for an update on this story.

Corporate Personhood? What About Ecosystem Personhood

April 10, 2021 04:11 - 37 minutes - 51.7 MB

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. U.S. 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 ...

Infrastructure Week! Build Back Better, THRIVE, and More with Kaniela Ing

March 31, 2021 16:28 - 28 minutes - 38.5 MB

The Biden Administration has rolled out its Build Back Better plan and it includes a lot of progressive wishlist items, but the left is still pushing for more scale. The THRIVE Act, reintroduced by Sen Markey and Rep Dingell last month 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. Learn more: https://www.thriveagenda.com/ https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-release...

All Eyes on Weymouth as FERC Signals Interest in Environmental Justice

March 27, 2021 07:24 - 21 minutes - 30 MB

Local activists and legislators have been fighting the Enbridge natural gas compressor in Weymouth for years. It's too close to residents and businesses, and poses too many health risks to a community that's already borne the burden of too much pollution, they say. 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 br...

How the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Undermining Free Speech

March 20, 2021 02:22 - 35 minutes - 48.3 MB

Fossil fuel-backed anti-protest laws have been passed in 14 states and are making their way 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. Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pipeline-protest-laws-coronavirus_n_5e7e7570c5b6256a7a2aab41 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fossil-fuel-protest_n_602c1ff6c...

Frackalachia and the Great Fracking Jobs Myth

March 12, 2021 23:19 - 37 minutes - 50.9 MB

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, joins us to talk 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.

Presenting: Hot Take — Blood for Oil, with Antonia Juhasz

March 10, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 103 MB

A special presentation of the podcast Hot Take, featuring investigative journalist Antonia Juhasz on all the many ways oil, war, and climate change intersect. Read more: https://antoniajuhasz.net/article/light-sweet-crude-a-former-us-ambassador-peddles-influence-in-afghanistan/ https://antoniajuhasz.net/article/the-new-war-for-afghanistans-untapped-oil/ https://antoniajuhasz.net/article/why-rex-tillerson-could-be-americas-most-dangerous-secretary-of-state/ Subscribe to the Hot Take newslette...

The API Was Pushing Climate Denial Way Earlier Than Anyone Thought

March 05, 2021 15:42 - 23 minutes - 32.3 MB

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

S5 Ep 11 | ¿Ahora Que?

December 19, 2020 00:34 - 27 minutes - 62.3 MB

Donziger is still on house arrest and disbarred, the settlement seems impossible to collect, now what? In this episode we look at what this case says about accountability and the power of oil companies, and what options remain for the Ecuadorians seeking justice. Support our work:

S5 Ep 10 | The Kill Step

December 11, 2020 15:59 - 20 minutes - 46.3 MB

Chevron makes good on its promise to fight the Ecuadorian judgement until hell freezes over ... and then fight it out on the ice. Donziger loses his appeal of the RICO judgement, then finds himself facing contempt charges and disbarment.

S5 Ep9 | The Judge

December 04, 2020 10:00 - 38 minutes - 87.3 MB

Corruption charges against both the Ecuadorian judge and the American judge fly as the RICO gets underway. Support our work: patreon.com/Drilled

Presenting: How to Save A Planet

November 27, 2020 17:36 - 1 hour

The Republican Party has been almost uniformly opposed to climate action for years — nobody more so than President Donald Trump. But it wasn't always like this. Today we're sharing an episode of How to Save a Planet, entitled "Making Republicans Environmentalists Again". It looks back at how conservatives came to see the denial of climate science as a kind of badge of honor — and how two conservative activists are trying to change that. If you enjoyed this episode, go check out more of How to...

S5 Ep 8 | Damages

November 20, 2020 21:02 - 26 minutes - 61.5 MB

Chevron's legal team shocks the Ecuadorian plaintiffs with a massive racketeering claim in the U.S. alleging fraud, witness tampering, and even bribery. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled

S5 Ep7 | The Linchpin

November 13, 2020 11:00 - 40 minutes - 55.6 MB

Chevron's attorneys go after Joe Berlinger, the filmmaker behind the documentary about the case, Crude. They subpoena his outtakes, kicking off a years-long First Amendment battle. Support our work: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled

Big Oil's Bad Bet on Plastic

November 06, 2020 23:52 - 18 minutes - 25.7 MB

A new report from Carbon Tracker finds that the fossil fuel industry is pinning its hopes on a plastic boom—and try as it might to spur that demand, it's just not materializing. Report author Kingsmill Bond joins us to discuss. Read the full report here: https://carbontracker.org/reports/the-futures-not-in-plastics/

Update: Donziger Headed to Trial with No Representation

November 06, 2020 23:17 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MB

New York District Court Judge Loretta Preska has denied repeated requests to delay Donziger's criminal contempt trial until at least one of his lawyers can be present. Barring any last-minute changes, he'll stand trial Monday, November 9th, after which he could be sent to jail for six months. In this ep, reporter Karen Savage brings us the latest and we hear from attorneys Lauren Regan and Ronald Kuby about what sort of precedent this sets.

S5 Ep6 | A Verdict and a New Charge

October 30, 2020 10:00 - 23 minutes - 53.8 MB

The case takes a bizarre turn with a sting operation, U.S. subpoenas, accusations of fraud and bribery, and finally a verdict in Ecuador.

S5 Ep5 | The Big Guns

October 23, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutes - 43.4 MB

With the Ecuadorian plaintiffs racking up good press and an endorsement from the country's president, Chevron kicks things up a notch, bringing on new lawyers and PR firms to tell a very different story. Support our work: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled

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