Drilled Climate Podcast Returns for Sixth Season Next Week

  According to recent estimates, the city of Miami will need to spend four billion dollars by 2060 to keep MOST of its neighborhoods dry. In the Pacific, islands such as The Maldives, Seychelles, Fiji and others are sinking and may be completely submerged within a generation. The arctic freeze was delayed by two months this year due to unusually hot temperatures in the Siberian and Laptev Seas.

 Clearly, what's needed is a serious discussion on climate change and what we should do about it. 

That's where the best climate podcast in the audio universe-- Drilled -- comes in.  

  Drilled was also one of the first climate podcasts, started independently at a time when host Amy Westervelt was told again and again there was no audience for such a thing. Turns out, there was, and Drilled has remained at the forefront of the climate-pod movement as it has exploded in the last couple of years. 

In its sixth season, debuting next week, Drilled  sets its sights on the natural gas industry, petrochemicals, and fracking. 

Host Amy Westervelt spins a nightmarish tale of Formosa, a Taiwanese petrochemical company that cannot get permits to expand in its home country due to poor environmental record. So what dos the company do? It falls into the open arms of Texas, where a pipeline is built.

Now, the company hopes to open a new plant in Louisiana, a state that has suffered in incalculable ways from disappearing marshes, flooding, and polluted land from other petrochemical companies who have settled there to escape scrutiny from environmental malfeasance and nearby residents trapped in cancer clusters.

On July 16, the show returns with its sixth season, "Bridge to Nowhere," looking deeply at natural gas through Amy's own research and reporting. As Treehugger puts it, "Time will tell exactly when natural gas begins to decline in the way of coal, but one thing is fairly certain: The executives pushing it as a solution are not going to be too happy that the one and only Amy Westervelt is on the story."

 

Drilled Podcast Host / Critical Frequency Founder Amy Westervelt

 

Did you know that anywhere between 1.5 million and 16 million gallons of water may be used to frack a single well, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), depending on a few factors, including the type of well and rock formation. Water used for hydraulic fracturing is typically fresh water taken from groundwater and surface water resources. Although there are increasing efforts to use nonpotable water, some of these sources also supply drinking water.

 

This is a terrific podcast that you shouldn't miss. I suggest you listen to the previous seasons and prepare yourself for season six. 

 

The gloves come off.