WEBVTT - Welcome to Carbon Cowboys

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin. In twenty eleven, Bruce Rastetter headed down to Brazil.

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<v Speaker 1>He was not just another Midwest tourist headed to the Amazon.

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<v Speaker 1>Bruce had pioneered factory farming in Iowa and then done

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<v Speaker 1>the same for biofuels in this thing called carbon capture.

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<v Speaker 1>He's a big Republican donor too, so he went to

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<v Speaker 1>Brazil looking for land.

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<v Speaker 2>So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went

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<v Speaker 2>from Bahia to Tokatines to Mannagros.

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<v Speaker 1>And he flew down with a team of executives. They

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<v Speaker 1>said they were going to help the country get in

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<v Speaker 1>on a gold rush.

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<v Speaker 2>Carbon and its derivatives are going to be really the

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<v Speaker 2>next great commodity that the globe is in to trade.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a huge opportunity, but we won't qualify unless we

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<v Speaker 3>lower carbon asasity scores.

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<v Speaker 1>Over the last couple of decades, climate regulators have worked

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<v Speaker 1>hard to incentivize green energy solutions, and Bruce rest Etter

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<v Speaker 1>knows better than anyone how to take advantage of something

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<v Speaker 1>like that. He's gotten huge government kickbacks by pivoting from

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<v Speaker 1>growing corn to making corn ethanol, and now he's helping

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<v Speaker 1>the ethanol industry get paid for capturing their carbon emissions.

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<v Speaker 2>So this Republican king maker is planning on this get

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<v Speaker 2>rich scheme of US paying him to capture CO two

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<v Speaker 2>at ethanol plants and then shipping it across private land

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<v Speaker 2>and public land and then disposing of it somewhere many

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<v Speaker 2>states away.

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<v Speaker 1>For the last ten years, Bruce and his Brazilian company

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<v Speaker 1>FSBO Energia have been pushing corn ethanol and carbon capture

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<v Speaker 1>in Brazil, even helping to raft Brazilian regulations around it.

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<v Speaker 1>This fs is promoting regulations, pioneering, prospecting, and even drawing

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<v Speaker 1>on the experience of its partners in the United States. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>corn ethanol production and carbon capture are so big in

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<v Speaker 1>Brazil they're the top competitor to the US. But trouble

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<v Speaker 1>back home is threatening to topple Bruce's whole carbon empire.

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<v Speaker 1>Because here's the thing. Corn ethanol has never been a

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<v Speaker 1>climate solution, and the idea of capturing carbon it's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a joke.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a waste stream first and foremost, and any policies

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<v Speaker 3>that incentivize it's uptake and use risk incentivizing an increase

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<v Speaker 3>in its production.

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<v Speaker 1>Once that carbon gets captured, oil companies send most of

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<v Speaker 1>it underground to extract even more oil so we can

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<v Speaker 1>burn even more fossil fuels and create more emissions. They

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<v Speaker 1>get paid to get the CO two. They earn a

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<v Speaker 1>profit and getting CO two on the ground, and then

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<v Speaker 1>they can use it to you to get well out

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<v Speaker 1>of the ground and earn a prophet on the oil too.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time Bruce got to Brazil, the people of

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<v Speaker 1>Iowa were on to him. The rank and file folks

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<v Speaker 1>on the ground in the Midwest's one big scam, and

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<v Speaker 1>the love of every bone also on the ground.

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<v Speaker 3>And I also think it's a scam.

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<v Speaker 1>Today, Bruce and the world are at a tipping point.

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<v Speaker 1>Will carbon be a commodity traded on the markets, divorced

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<v Speaker 1>entirely from its role as a pollutant? Or will we

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<v Speaker 1>choose a different path? Welcome to Season fifteen of Drilled

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<v Speaker 1>Carbon Cowboys, the story of the ethanol kingpin of Iowa

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<v Speaker 1>who became the king of corn in Brazil, and what

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<v Speaker 1>it tells us about the limits of technology and markets

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<v Speaker 1>to solve the climate crisis. This season is a collaboration

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<v Speaker 1>between Drilled and the Intercept Brazil. You can get the

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<v Speaker 1>Portuguese version over on the Intercept Brazil's feed. Subscribe wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts.