Drilled
Pushkin Industries
Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 17, 2021 • 44min
Drilled Presents | Scene on Radio, The Repair | Episode 9: Pachamama
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 10, 2021 • 32min
The Influence Industry and Climate Obstruction
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 7, 2021 • 27min
One PR Firm Works on More Climate Obstruction Than Any Other
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 26, 2021 • 28min
Fracking the Outback: Australia's Plan to Go Big on Fracking and Plastic
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 19, 2021 • 52min
Melissa Aronczyk on the History of Greenwashing
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&) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 5, 2021 • 18min
Climate Education in the U.S. with Katie Worth
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 29, 2021 • 29min
Fighting Back Against Big Oil in Education
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?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 22, 2021 • 59min
Ben Franta on Big Oil in College
Here's our full interview with Stanford researcher Ben Franta to discuss fossil fuel influence at universities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 15, 2021 • 33min
Big Oil on Campus
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 8, 2021 • 28min
Big Oil's High School Agenda
We head to high school, where the fossil fuel industry's efforts to shape Americans' thinking on economics and policy ramps up.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
