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 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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