Drilled

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: throug...

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 informat...

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 top...

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 e...

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 Oil Sup...

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 Brigade Healthy Gulf See 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 cl...

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 Cr...

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...

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. R...

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 transcript See omnystudio.com/listener for...

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 transcript See 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....

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 transcript See 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 tidbit...

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 reg...

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 manipul...

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...

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 Twitter See omnystu...

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 transcript Check 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. L...

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 fo...

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.