How Climate Obstruction Works at the Local Level

How Climate Obstruction Works at the Local Level

Author: Pushkin Industries November 4, 2025 Duration: 34:08

Local governments are a double-edged sword when it comes to climate policy, with the power to either do far more or far less than national governments. They can be an agent of change or an agent of obstruction. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University) and Joshua A. Basseches (Tulane University) walk us through how subnational governments, like states and municipalities, work and how they engage in climate obstruction.

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There’s a story behind the stalled progress on climate change that goes beyond melting ice and rising seas-it’s a story of deliberate deception. Drilled, from Pushkin Industries, approaches the climate crisis through the lens of investigative true crime. Led by veteran reporter Amy Westervelt and a team of award-winning climate journalists, this podcast meticulously traces how networks of corporate interests and political operatives constructed a decades-long campaign of denial and delay. Each season is a deep forensic examination, pulling on threads of new evidence to unravel systems of disinformation and hidden power. What you’ll hear isn’t just a recap of scientific reports, but a gripping narrative that follows the paper trail, the leaked memos, and the orchestrated efforts that have held meaningful action just out of reach. The result is a compelling and often unsettling listen that reframes our understanding of the past half-century. By treating climate inaction as a crime story, this podcast reveals the human architects and the calculated strategies that brought us here, making complex collusion startlingly clear. Tune in for a masterclass in accountability journalism.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 247

Drilled
Podcast Episodes
David vs. Goliath [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:06
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 th…
Taking Big Oil to Court [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:01
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. Support us: https…
Two Lawsuits, One Industry: Crab Fishermen Take on Big Oil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:36
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. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled See omnystudio.com/l…
West Coast Crab Fisheries Face a Shaky Future [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:32
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…
West Coast Crab Fishermen vs. Big Oil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:38
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 communi…
Coming Soon: Hot Water [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:05
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 we…
Winning the War: Fighting Back Against Decades of Climate Delay [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:07
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 so…
Climate Denial Campaigns So Successful They’re Now in Court [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:49
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 c…
The First Step to Influencing Policy: Setting Research Agendas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:09
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. Support us: https://www.patreon…