# Drilled + Earther: The ABCs of Big Oil

An episode of [Drilled](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1439735906), 13 Sep 2021, 3:26.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/SxlTEPDY7xDg35RXkASs/pdrl.fm/3e5572/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/9a7ab5ee-ce11-48ff-a544-b3ec00ea9b1e/24232ce9-3da0-4d38-8453-b3ec00f25648/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=7f82f371-6316-4ea6-a108-b3ec00ea9b2d

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.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Even though we're using more than way they are used.
[0:02] Speaker 1: We're at a twenty year low on SOE two emissions.
[0:05] Speaker 2: This is an oil and gas lobbyist in Arkansas.
[0:09] Speaker 1: Hey, and that money that we were starting that other
[0:13] Speaker 1: countries is now going into the US or not.
[0:15] Speaker 2: And she's not at an industry meeting or a right
[0:18] Speaker 2: wing climate conference, which.
[0:21] Speaker 1: In the jobs are will continue to be very important.
[0:25] Speaker 2: She's actually standing in front of a seventh grade class,
[0:29] Speaker 2: teaching them about energy.
[0:36] Speaker 3: We've been hearing for a while now about oil and
[0:39] Speaker 3: gas companies infiltrating schools, looking for future energy workers, or
[0:43] Speaker 3: tinkering with science curricula. But over the past several months
[0:47] Speaker 3: we've been digging into a different sort of industry influence,
[0:51] Speaker 3: a darker sort. I'm Garden Nor from Earth.
[0:56] Speaker 2: And I'm Amy Westervelt. In a new miniseries coming later
[0:59] Speaker 2: this month, Darna and I partnered up to look at
[1:02] Speaker 2: how the fossil fuel industry has shaped not just science education,
[1:06] Speaker 2: but social science education. How kids view the economy and
[1:10] Speaker 2: society and politics.
[1:12] Speaker 3: How the industry trains future voters and business people and
[1:17] Speaker 3: activists and journalists to narrow the possibilities for solutions. Starting
[1:21] Speaker 3: in kindergarten and continuing into college.
[1:25] Speaker 1: But you have to think about the challenge is too
[1:28] Speaker 1: and we think two days.
[1:29] Speaker 4: First of all, you you need to decide to standard
[1:32] Speaker 4: of value what is most important. Thankfully we don't have
[1:37] Speaker 4: to choose in this country. We've we're working out on
[1:40] Speaker 4: a happy medium at this point. But if you had
[1:44] Speaker 4: to choose, you need to decide is human life the
[1:47] Speaker 4: most important thing, humors being healthier, wealthier, happier, living longer,
[1:54] Speaker 4: or is Christine nature more important?
[1:57] Speaker 1: But we wanna put building buildings with build The new
[2:00] Speaker 1: nausis stop getting step out of the ground.
[2:03] Speaker 4: We want to lead it exactly as it is, because
[2:06] Speaker 4: that would be difficult. Ven just RedANT to ma is Chues.
[2:15] Speaker 2: And just how much influence this framing has had on
[2:19] Speaker 2: climate policy and environmental regulations.
[2:22] Speaker 5: When you take your message and you put it in
[2:25] Speaker 5: the mouth of someone who is teaching your children, who
[2:28] Speaker 5: is told you know who children are told to believe
[2:32] Speaker 5: and trust, it is among the most insidious and among
[2:36] Speaker 5: the most effective forms of propaganda.
[2:40] Speaker 6: It's not just that public policy schools are being funded
[2:43] Speaker 6: by oil companies. Sometimes it's that the programs that are
[2:48] Speaker 6: focused on climate or environment or sustainability, in particular, those
[2:53] Speaker 6: are often funded by the oil companies.
[2:57] Speaker 7: One would say that climate change is the defining issue
[3:01] Speaker 7: of this century, but in thirty States, climate change doesn't
[3:05] Speaker 7: show up in any civics class.
[3:12] Speaker 3: Coming soon from Drilled and Earther. The ABC is of
[3:15] Speaker 3: Big Oil.
[3:16] Speaker 2: Subscribe now so you won't miss it.

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