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
Oct 3, 2021 • 37min
S5 Update: Donziger Sentenced to Six Months in Jail
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 1, 2021 • 23min
How Big Oil Targets Elementary School
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. Read more: www.earther.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 24, 2021 • 38min
The First Day of School
Dharna Noor, a climate reporter at Earther, dives into the historical ties between the fossil fuel industry and education. She reveals how Big Oil has shaped educational content for decades, crafting narratives that limit critical climate discussions. Noor highlights striking contrasts in climate awareness among children in the Marshall Islands versus adults influenced by industry messaging. The conversation uncovers the insidious tactics that fossil fuel companies use to shape young minds and the urgent need for a balanced perspective on energy education.
Sep 13, 2021 • 3min
Drilled + Earther: The ABCs of Big Oil
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 13, 2021 • 26min
Whack-A-Mole
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?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 6, 2021 • 18min
Keeping Oil Alive
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 videoRead the storySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 30, 2021 • 22min
And Then There Was COVID
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?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 23, 2021 • 26min
Fighting Formosa in Louisiana
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 16, 2021 • 25min
Don't Mess with Texas
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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 17, 2021 • 4min
Coming Soon: The Bridge to Nowhere
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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
