1 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: On February twenty fourth, twenty twenty two, one of the 2 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: world's most powerful petro states, gave the gas industry a lifeline. 3 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 2: The month long buildup of Russian troops on the border 4 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 2: with Ukraine has turned now into an invasion Ukraine under attack. 5 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: It was an echo of Russia's invasion of Crimea back 6 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,319 Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen. Back then, the world was caught off 7 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: guard by Russia's aggression. Even the fossil fuel companies, which 8 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: lost millions when the US imposed stiff sanctions on Russia, 9 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: and US oil companies like Exxonmobile found themselves holding assets 10 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: worth nothing. This time, the industry was ready with a 11 00:00:58,320 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: proactive response. 12 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 3: I think on February twenty fourth, I freaked out because 13 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 3: within hours of Putin's invasion, just watching serious patterns like 14 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 3: emerge where you know, API and other trade associations were 15 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:18,639 Speaker 3: echoing similar talking points immediately, anti Biden talking points, anti 16 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 3: renewable energy talking points. 17 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,279 Speaker 1: Christine Arena is a public relations expert who previously worked 18 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: as a VP for Edelman PR back when the firm 19 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: was handling the account for the American Petroleum Institute, or API. 20 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: She left that job in twenty fifteen and has a 21 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: new gig. 22 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 3: Now really been focused for the last seven years on 23 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 3: climate accountability, and that is helping lawmakers to assess greenwash 24 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 3: climate disinformation, how it occurs, how it spreads, and how 25 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 3: it's working. 26 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: And there was a lot of questionable messaging to observe 27 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: over the past few months. First, for some context, even 28 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: before Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the industry was lobbying the 29 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: White House for weak sanctions. They wanted to avoid a 30 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: repeat of the losses they suffered after Russia's invasion of Crimea. 31 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: The day after the invasion, industry groups were ready lng allies, 32 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: and the American Exploration and Production Council wrote a joint 33 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: letter to President Biden urging support of the US natural 34 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: gas industry. America's vast energy resources are a strategic asset 35 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: that can help keep US prices low while supporting our 36 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: allies abroad. The trade groups wrote policies such as pausing 37 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: leasing on federal lands, preventing new pipeline infrastructure, and discouraging 38 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: investments across the hydrocarbon value chain, hamper US production, thereby 39 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: driving up prices and making the world more reliant on 40 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:59,399 Speaker 1: energy from nations such as Russia. Arena says she saw 41 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: this type of messaging blaming high gas prices on the 42 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: few US policies that have been unfriendly to the gas 43 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: industry emerge immediately and consistently across both social media and 44 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: broadcast media channels. 45 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 3: There were a number of proxies repeating the same talking points, 46 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 3: and then there was like a media creative produced including 47 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 3: ads on television. 48 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: Media creative, by the way, is pr industry speak for 49 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: ads and branded graphics. 50 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 3: And I just felt this very eerie sense that this 51 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 3: was just too coordinated given the timeframe from the triggering 52 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 3: event when Putin invaded to the release of this creative. 53 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 3: The intervals were too tight, the messages were too word 54 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 3: for word. This is an organized disinformation effort geared towards 55 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 3: affecting policy in the short term. 56 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: That made Arena reach out to the folks at Influence Map, 57 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: a think tank that measures the impact of corporate lobbying 58 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: on climate policy around the world. 59 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 4: I'm fee Holda and I'm a program manager at influence Map. 60 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 4: We track around three hundred and fifty companies and one 61 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 4: hundred and fifty industry associations on a weekly basis for 62 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 4: any evidence of engagement with either climate policies or the 63 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 4: broader debate on climate change. 64 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: I spoke with both Holder and Arena in early May 65 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: before Influence Map publicly released what they discovered about the 66 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: industry's recent messaging. Influence Map also looped in the group's 67 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: Media Matters and Triple Check to do a comprehensive media 68 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: and social media listening campaign. In other words, they looked 69 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: at everywhere industry spokespeople and their proxies were turning up, 70 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: what they were seeing, when, and how much impact it 71 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: all had. 72 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 3: For a media campaign where you're engaging different stakeholders and 73 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 3: you're writing the talking points, if you want your proxies, 74 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 3: you know, other political officials, other organizations to repeat the 75 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 3: same talking points, that takes a lease through weeks. If 76 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 3: you're producing a creative ad that is on television, that 77 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 3: could take two months plus in a tight timeline, it 78 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 3: takes the time to prepare that to pitch producers to 79 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 3: get Mike Summers on TV. 80 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: Mike Summers is the President and CEO of the American 81 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: Petroleum Institute or API U us on TV a bunch 82 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: this spring to. 83 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 3: Coach all of the different individuals who are again repeating 84 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 3: API talking points word for word that takes some time 85 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,359 Speaker 3: a coordination. I do personally believe that the communications pieces 86 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 3: were put into place and ready to go prior to 87 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 3: February twenty fourth, and that the fossil fuel industry knew 88 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 3: it stood to benefit from Russia's war, not just in 89 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 3: terms of near term gas prices, but you know, a 90 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 3: shorter term policy graph. 91 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: In the week of the Ukraine invasion, we've seen a 92 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: resurgence of the Bridgefield narrative, but we've also seen a 93 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: new form of mess one that almost makes greenwashing seem point. 94 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: That's our story today. This is the finale of season six, 95 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: Part two. The new climate villains stay with us. 96 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 4: One that we saw a lot of was blaming climate 97 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 4: policies for the decrease in a supply of oil, which 98 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 4: then led to this increase in gas prices. And these 99 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 4: arguments were kind of going on before the war in 100 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 4: Ukraine began, but quickly got tied together. 101 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: That's influenced maps Fayholder describing one of the key industry 102 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: talking points that took hold of this spring. Here's American 103 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: Petroleum Institute President Mike Summers talking to CNBC as Putin 104 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,919 Speaker 1: began to build up troops and weaponry alone the Ukraine 105 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: border in late twenty twenty one. You can hear them 106 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: already here blaming climate policies for increasing gas prices. 107 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 5: There are a lot of factors at play as to 108 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 5: why energy prices are surging, but certainly one of the 109 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 5: key factors is that the Biden administration has made an 110 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 5: effort to reduce production in the United States. One of 111 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 5: their first acts, for example, was cutting off the Keystone 112 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 5: XL pipeline. One of their second acts was cutting off 113 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 5: leasing and permitting on federal lands, and then they cut 114 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 5: off access to anwar in Alaska. 115 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: And here he is making the same point in an 116 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: interview on CBS post Ukraine invasion in early March. 117 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 6: The most important thing that we can do right now 118 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 6: is really focus on increasing supply here in the United States, 119 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 6: and that means adopting a regulatory framework that advances American 120 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 6: energy leadership. 121 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: And Mike, what exactly would that look like. 122 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 6: But we have to remember at the beginning of the 123 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 6: Biden administration, they did a couple of big things that 124 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 6: really dampened the amount of oil and gas that we 125 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 6: were producing in the United States. You know, first they 126 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 6: cut off the Keystone XCEL pipeline. Then they put a 127 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 6: moratorium on leasing and permitting on federal lands and on 128 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 6: offshore waters, and then they cut off supply from the 129 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 6: Alaska Natural National Wildlife Refuge. So really the first week 130 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 6: of this Biben administration was very harmful to the domestic 131 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 6: production of oil and natural gas. 132 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: That is some consistent messaging and creative spin given the reality. 133 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 1: For the record, about twenty five percent of fossil fuel 134 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: drilling happens on public lands. The rest is entirely controlled 135 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: by private companies. The fossil fuel industry is sitting on 136 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: at least a decade's worth of unused leases, so it's 137 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: unlikely that a lack of new leases has impacted current 138 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: production or supply. Now let's talk about the Keystone XL pipeline. 139 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: A lot of folks think this was an active pipeline 140 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: that somehow got shut down. 141 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 7: Not so. 142 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: The Keystone XL pipeline was intended to transport Tarsans oil 143 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: from Canada to export terminals in the Gulf of Mexico. 144 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: Two thirds of that oil was earmarked for non US customers. 145 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: Had the pipeline not been canceled, it would have come 146 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: online by about twenty twenty six, so the idea that 147 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: it would play a huge role in oil supply in 148 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two is ridiculous. And now the Alaskan National 149 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: Wildlife Refuge or ANMAR, the holy grail of US oil companies. 150 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: For some reason, the refuge had been off limits to 151 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: oil drilling since nineteen seventy seven. There was a brief 152 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 1: moment in twenty seventeen when the Trump administration reversed that, 153 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: but so few leases were actually sold it surprised even 154 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: the fossil fuel industry, and none of the companies that 155 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: got those leases had even started drilling yet thanks to 156 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: multiple legal challenges, when the Biden administration reversed the decision 157 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: to allow that drilling in twenty twenty, so again not 158 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: something that had a huge impact on the supply here 159 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: in the US. These are the only pieces of climate 160 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: policy that Summers can point to over and over again 161 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: because they're the only ones the Biden administration has managed 162 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: to pass, and none of them have any impact on 163 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: the current supply of domestic oil and gas in the 164 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: United States or the price at the pump. But these 165 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: facts don't seem to matter in the context of Russia. Ukraine. 166 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: These talking points really took hold. Fayholder from Influence Map 167 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: explains how this message led into another key narrative for 168 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: the industry to. 169 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 4: Fix the issue with gas prices. The answer was then 170 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 4: to increase the supply of oil and gas, and that's 171 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,800 Speaker 4: where Ukraine then got brought in because increasing the supply 172 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 4: of oil and gas, according to the oil and gas companies, 173 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 4: would also increase energy security energy independence, and we started 174 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 4: seeing those narratives really being brought into play, particularly through 175 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 4: large ad campaigns and from the industry associations, in particular 176 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 4: American Patronum Institute being the big one. 177 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: According to Holder and Arena, there were three dominant messages 178 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: that emerged in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. First, 179 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: climate policies were responsible for high gas prices. Then increased 180 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: production is the answer to both lower gas prices and 181 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: increased national security. And then a third one that was 182 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: new and somewhat surprising. Here's Christine Arena again to explain. 183 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,439 Speaker 3: The notion that it's activists and woke people they should 184 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 3: be the ones to fight climate change. You know, it's 185 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 3: not relevant for real Americans. This notion that president and 186 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 3: cares more about climate activists than he does about real Americans. 187 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 3: So there's a concerted push around these narratives. 188 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: Leveraging crises to increase profits is nothing new for the 189 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: fossil fuel industry or any other industry. It's what the 190 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,959 Speaker 1: author Naomi Klein calls disaster capitalism, and the oil and 191 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: gas guys are experts at it. Client says watching their 192 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: response to Hurricane Katrina back in two thousand and five 193 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: is actually what drew her into the climate conversation. 194 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 8: In the aftermath of these shocking events like wars, economic crises, 195 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 8: and increasingly natural disasters, there is a kind of corporate 196 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,679 Speaker 8: feeding frenzy. That was certainly the case in New Orleans 197 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 8: after Katrina. So I went there because Halliburton was there, 198 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 8: and Blackwater was there, and Bechte was there, and the 199 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 8: charter school movement was there, and all of these private 200 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 8: real estate developers were there, and it was just like 201 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,679 Speaker 8: this in saying, freeding frenzy before the water had even 202 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 8: drained from the streets. But when I was there, I 203 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 8: definitely had this feeling that I was looking at our 204 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 8: collective future. If we stay on the road we're on, 205 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 8: that we would be facing a future with more of 206 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 8: these kinds of climate shocks intersecting with a weak and 207 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,839 Speaker 8: neglected public sphere, overlaid with systems of white supremacy, and 208 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,199 Speaker 8: then disaster capitalists swooping in with plans to make it 209 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 8: all more unequal. 210 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: Disaster capitalism has only intensified since then, and what's happened 211 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: in the week of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is 212 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: a perfect example. Researchers not only looked at what messages 213 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: took hold and when, but also at who was sharing 214 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: and amplifying these messages. Seven companies and trade groups dominated 215 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: the news cycle, including some usual suspects like API, The 216 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: Number of Commerce, Chevron, and Conoco Phillips. But there were 217 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: some new folks at the party, our old friends at 218 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: the American Gas Association, for one, and Sempra, the national 219 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 1: energy company that now owns sokel Gas. 220 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 3: It's just so incredible. At the same time natural gas 221 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 3: is being mass marketed as the world's greenest effort, the 222 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 3: industry leadership is out there talking about how harmful it 223 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 3: is an anti American it is to view any discussion 224 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 3: through the lens of climate change. 225 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: Holder says it's new to see gas industry spokespeople playing 226 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: a similar role to the rest of the fossil fuel industry. 227 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 9: I think the. 228 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 4: Gas industry has definitely got a lot louder and more 229 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 4: active in the past few years, and you can see 230 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 4: that precisely through companies like SEMPRA, and i'd also mention 231 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 4: American Gas Association. I think I've been at influenced map 232 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 4: tracking companies and industry associations for nearly four years now, 233 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 4: and I maybe head of American Gas Association in the 234 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 4: past two years, which not say they didn't exist before, 235 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 4: but they've just got a lot more active. 236 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: That timing, as we've noted in this season, parallels the 237 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: spread of gas bands in the last couple of years. 238 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 4: I think maybe the gas industry is starting to feel 239 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 4: the heat a bit more around their culpability for climate change. Yeah, 240 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 4: as is kind of evidenced by these gas bands, and 241 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 4: so I wonder whether it's maybe they're going on the 242 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 4: defense of a bit more in that similar vein that 243 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 4: API has done for a long time, and US Chamber 244 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 4: and those kind of groups that have always represented oil 245 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 4: particularly joining that effort. 246 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: These messages from trade groups and utility presidents might not 247 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: seem like a big deal, but when they're amplified via 248 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: advertising and proxy spokespeople, they can reach really large audiences. 249 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 4: We've seen a heavy, heavy use of social media, both 250 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 4: in advertising and organic content, and it's definitely a key 251 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 4: strategy and outlet for the oil and gas sector. I 252 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 4: think they feed off each other nicely. A lot of 253 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 4: the things that are retweeted by API, for instance, are 254 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 4: Mike Summers on folk News, So it's almost the way 255 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 4: that they can come at it from both angles cover 256 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 4: the widest audience. 257 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, we're seeing that in the data. That's what the 258 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 3: data shows us. The biggest impressions are on social media 259 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 3: platforms Facebook and Twitter specifically, and then to a lesser extent, 260 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 3: it would be you know, your right leaning media outlets 261 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 3: like Fox Daily Wire, Bright Bart, Newsmax, Daily Caller, and 262 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 3: to face point, there's that cross amplification, but by far 263 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 3: the majority of media impressions are happening through social media channels, 264 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 3: and then you amplify that by the echo chamber that 265 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 3: is like Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Alex Epstein, even Greg 266 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 3: Abbott from Texas, Dan Crenshaw, Marsha blackburn, Ted Cruz of 267 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 3: all of those accounts are amplifying greatly these misleading impressions. 268 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: According to the Influence Map report, in the weeks leading 269 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: up to and following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the American 270 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,400 Speaker 1: Petroleum Institute alone ran at least six hundred and fifty 271 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: one ads on Facebook, many of which promoted the role 272 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: of American gas and oil being essential for energy independence. 273 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: Their ads reached around ten percent of Facebook users. To 274 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: put that in context, the biggest advice on the platform 275 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: tend to deliver at the absolute most about five percent 276 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: of users. Media Matters ran a parallel analysis of the 277 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: types of messages the industry was pushing from late twenty 278 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: twenty one, when Putin first started to mobilize troops to 279 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: March twenty twenty two, when the Biden administration began to 280 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:58,199 Speaker 1: concede to the industry's demands. They found three key points 281 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: repeated over and over those same messages that hold aer 282 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: an arena. We're seeing that climate policy is responsible for 283 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,120 Speaker 1: high gas prices, that the answer to those prices and 284 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: national security is increased American production, and that climate policy 285 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: is something only liberal, woke elites care about, not real Americans. 286 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 3: Six hundred and fifty one Facebook ads in that short 287 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,119 Speaker 3: time period. That's a big buy. It's unusual. But then 288 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 3: if you look at Twitter for media matters in triple check, 289 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 3: their data shows that misinformation peaked, you know, February twenty fourth. 290 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 3: Literally there's a huge peak where we get to one 291 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 3: hundred fossil fuel misinformation posts that yielded over five million likes, comments, 292 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 3: and shares. 293 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: The most important number in all of this, though, is 294 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: a pretty small one twenty. That's the number of days 295 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:59,479 Speaker 1: between the launch of the Industry's Russia Ukraine campaign and 296 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,719 Speaker 1: the industry Tree's first policy wins. Those started with the 297 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: liquefied natural gas or LNG decisions. The Department of Energy 298 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: granted long term permits to increase the volume of LNG 299 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: exported from two key terminals on March sixteenth. 300 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 4: So that's two weeks maybe from the start of the crisis. 301 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 4: During this whole situation, there was a new climate policy 302 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 4: up for discussion at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that 303 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 4: would have required new gas pipelines to take into account 304 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 4: the impacts on climate change and local communities. That just 305 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 4: got completely rolled back. 306 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 1: That decision was followed by one to roll back climate 307 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: requirements on pipelines, and then more permits for new export terminals. 308 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:54,399 Speaker 1: Then March twenty fifth, twenty twenty two, Biden announced an 309 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: even bigger win for the industry, a deal with the 310 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: European Union for American producer to supply an extra fifteen 311 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:07,920 Speaker 1: billion cubic meters of LNG to Europe in twenty twenty two. 312 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: And that's not all. Beyond twenty twenty two. The two 313 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 1: agreed to lock in demand for US gas at fifty 314 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: billion cubic meters a year until twenty. 315 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 3: Thirty, allegedly to help wean them off Russian energy, but 316 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 3: certainly to the US natural gas industry's advantage. And so 317 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 3: that's just a little over four weeks. That's a very 318 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 3: short interval, and I feel that interval should alarm lawmakers, 319 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 3: it should alarm people in the climate community. That's disaster capitalism. 320 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,959 Speaker 3: I think you could call it a disinformation driven heist 321 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 3: of public policy. 322 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: The US EU LNG deal will make the US the 323 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: world's largest exporter of gas. It was already the world's 324 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: largest producer. And that deal was announced the same week 325 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: that the Inner Governmental Panel on Climate Change and the 326 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 1: typically conservative International Energy Agency announced that we simply cannot 327 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: engage in any new fossil fuel development and keep warming 328 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 1: to even two degrees or less. It's a deal that 329 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 1: briet who was actually Trump's energy secretary before he ran 330 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 1: Sumper infrastructure couldn't even get done under the most oil 331 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: funded president the country has ever elected. But Biden, who 332 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,719 Speaker 1: ran as the climate president, he made it happen. 333 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 9: There were new rigs even before he made that announcement, 334 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 9: but now it's just the horizon is filled with new 335 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 9: drilling rigs. It is booming again. 336 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: You might remember Sharon Wilson, an anti fracking activist in 337 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: Texas who we heard from in an earlier episode this season. 338 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: She's been out this spring with her thermal imaging camera 339 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: to see what the gas industry is up to in 340 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: Texas's Permian Basin. She says, without even looking for new rigs, 341 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: she capped CNM. 342 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:13,640 Speaker 9: We saw at least sixty, oh my god, sixty new rigs, 343 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 9: I mean it. And every single site we looked at 344 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 9: with the camera was major pollution. Miguel drove and I 345 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 9: pointed the thing out the window. 346 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,920 Speaker 1: Miguel is Migueliscoto, Wilson's colleague at the environmental nonprofit Earthworks. 347 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 10: The increase of production. The skyrocketing of production is immediately visible. 348 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 10: We would drive from Odessa to Big Spring, which is 349 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 10: about an hour long drive, and almost at every point 350 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 10: in the horizon while you're driving through this highway you 351 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 10: see new drilling rigs and. 352 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 9: I'd go, oh my god, it looked like a war zone. 353 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 9: There was black plumes of pollution coming from every site. 354 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 9: We are going the wrong way so fast that it's 355 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 9: mind boggling. We're seeing a whole bunch of new sites 356 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 9: go in which we don't need. But the thing that's 357 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 9: so horrifying is we've got all of these existing sites 358 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 9: emitting methane and VOCs like crazy. I mean, just huge 359 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 9: plumes that take up the whole sky. And then they're 360 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 9: just drilling more. 361 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:41,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, does it seem to you like they're 362 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: going backwards on methane emissions too. 363 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 9: It's actually it has gotten worse. It's worse. You cannot 364 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,959 Speaker 9: reduce methane by continuing to produce more methane. 365 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: Yet, once again the industry has convinced a lot of 366 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: talking heads that gas is a critical part of any 367 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: climate solution. Here's Simpra Infrastructure president Dan Briette making that 368 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: point on Bloomberg TV, CNN and CNBC's squawk Box. 369 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 7: And natural gas is a perfect complement to renewable technologies, 370 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 7: not only here in the United States but all around 371 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,399 Speaker 7: the world. The transition is more than just going again 372 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,400 Speaker 7: from natural gas or fossil fuels to one hundred percent renewables. 373 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 7: It's going to be adding new energy, and natural gas 374 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 7: is a part of that. 375 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 8: We are still hurtling towards sort of a climate reckoning, 376 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 8: just based on a zeitgeist that we're in right now. 377 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 7: But that's again where natural gas can have a very 378 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 7: positive impact. 379 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 1: And here's Feyholder again, definitely a big effort to betray 380 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 1: gas as green. 381 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 4: I think one of the quotes that we found from 382 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 4: it was an executive vice president and EQT Corporation described 383 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 4: exporting US LNG as the largest green initiative on the planet. 384 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: So to recap, in just under three months, the gas 385 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: industry has managed to put a stop to any regulation 386 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: that might have held back its continued growth, stopped even 387 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 1: pretending to do anything about methane emissions, expanded production in 388 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:25,159 Speaker 1: a major way, all while simultaneously convincing the public and 389 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: politicians that gas is green energy. And that only woke 390 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: libs care about climate change anyway. It's breathtaking how well 391 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: this campaign worked. Oh and gas prices, yeah, they're still high. 392 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: That's it for this episode and this season. Make sure 393 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,160 Speaker 1: that you're subscribed so that you won't miss any bonus 394 00:25:55,200 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: episodes or our next season. Drilled is an original article 395 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: frequency production. Our producer is Jules Bradley. Our editor is 396 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: Jude Joffy Block. Original music, sound design, mixing and mastering 397 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: for this season from Peter Duff. The show is written 398 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: and reported by me Amy Westervelt. Our artwork is drawn 399 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 1: by Matt Fleming. Our factchecker is Woodan Yan. Our First 400 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: Amendment attorney is James Wheaton of the First Amendment Project. 401 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: You can follow us on Twitter at we are Drilled 402 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: and keep up with ongoing reporting at drill podcast dot com. 403 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: You can also sign up for our newsletter there, and 404 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: you can support our work through Patreon at Patreon dot 405 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: com slash Drilled. You'll get bonus episodes there, behind the 406 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: scenes content, add free episodes, and access to exclusive archandise. 407 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 1: Big thanks to all the folks who are already supporting 408 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 1: us on Patriot jan and to all of our listeners. 409 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 1: Thanks again and we'll see you soon.