Drilled

Launching November 14th, Drilled is a limited series investigative true-crime podcast about the crime of the century: the creation of climate denial.

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Oil companies targeted scientists' biggest weakness—their refusal to be absolutely certain about anything—to sow doubt about climate change. In addition to using journalists' views on their own objectivity against them, uncertainty became a tool for misinformation.

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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 https://drilled.media/.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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

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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.

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