About this episode
The episode explores the effectiveness of market-driven climate solutions through the story of Bruce Rastetter, a corn ethanol entrepreneur turned carbon entrepreneur.
For decades we’ve heard that “the markets” will solve the climate crisis. On Drilled: Carbon Cowboys, we put that theory to the test, following Bruce Rastetter, a corn ethanol kingpin-turned-carbon entrepreneur from Iowa to Brazil, and asking the big questions: Are these “climate solutions” actually reducing emissions? Is CO2 increasing or decreasing as carbon becomes a commodity? Or is green colonialism just as extractive as the regular sort? Drilled: Carbon Cowboys begins on May 12th. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Topics covered
- climate crisis
- carbon entrepreneurship
- green colonialism
- emissions reduction
- corn ethanol
Keywords
- climate solutions
- carbon commodity
- emissions
- green colonialism
- corn ethanol
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Pushkin Industries
Places: Iowa, Brazil
More episodes of Drilled
- The Saudi Arabia of Biofuels · June 9, 2026 · 40 min
- Into the Amazon · June 2, 2026 · 35 min
- The Brazilian Midwest · May 26, 2026 · 27 min
- The Ethanol Kingpin of Iowa · May 19, 2026 · 32 min
- The Carbon Gold Rush · May 12, 2026 · 27 min
- Fossil-fueled Fascism · April 28, 2026 · 22 min
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