Lawless Planet

Tim DeChristopher’s Lonely Battle for the Planet

When you hear the term “civil disobedience,” most people think about mass demonstrations. But sometimes, the most effective protest involves a single individual willing to disrupt the system. In 2008, Tim DeChristopher aka “Bidder 70” bought $1.8 million worth of oil and gas leases in Utah that he never intended to pay for. Tim was sentenced to two years in federal prison and became an accidental martyr in the climate change movement. Nearly 20 years later, we ask him: Did it make a difference? Featured in this episode: Tim DeChristopherSources:Gravitas Documentaries’s Bidder 70Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “America’s Most Creative Climate Criminal” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/meet-americas-most-creative-climate-criminal-196050/ Bibi van der Zee’s Inside Climate News article “Utah Climate Activist Found Guilty of Making False Bids on Energy Leases” https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04032011/tim-dechristopher-utah-oil-gas-auction-trial-activist/ Brandon Loomis’ The Salt Lake Tribune article “DeChristopher goes on trial, but does he have a defense?”https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=51289931&itype=CMSID See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How Trump’s EPA Chief Is Dismantling Climate Regulation

With the arrival of the second Trump administration, many employees at the Environmental Protection Agency have felt like they’re under attack – from their own boss. Under its new chief Lee Zeldin, the EPA has slashed budgets, programs, and staff, all in the name of what Zeldin calls rooting out “waste, fraud, and abuse” and “driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion.” On this episode, we talk to EPA insiders about how the cuts have impacted their lives and careers, and the programs they care so passionately about.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Mining Disaster That Brought Down the 'Dark Lord of Coal'

Don Blankenship grew up poor in the heart of West Virginia coal country, but rose to become a union-busting CEO with a track record prioritizing profits over safety. For decades, he operated with seeming impunity, even as his company, Massey Energy, spilled toxic coal slurry into local waterways, and its miners died in preventable accidents. Then, in 2010, a disaster too big to ignore finally brought Blankenship down. But what does his long career reveal about an industry that the Trump administration is trying to revitalize?Sources:Peter A. Galuszka's book Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big CoalSludge documentaryMine War on Blackberry Creek documentaryCBS’s 60 Minutes report “From inmate to candidate: Who is Don Blankenship?”Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “Don Blankenship: The Dark Lord of Coal”https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/don-blankenship-the-dark-lord-of-coal-country-184288/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Church Rock: America's Forgotten Nuclear Disaster

In July 1979, just months after a nuclear accident at Three Mile Island gripped the nation, the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history quietly unfolded on a Navajo reservation in Church Rock, New Mexico — and almost no one noticed. A dam at a uranium mine tailings pond burst, causing 94 million gallons of toxic waste to flood a nearby river, poisoning the water, livestock, and people. Through the eyes of an activist who worked at the mine, we reveal how decades of corporate cover-ups and government indifference turned the ‘yellow dirt’ on America's largest Native reservation into something dangerous.Featured in this episode: Larry KingSources:Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed by Judy PasternakThe River that Harms documentaryMarley Shebala’s Navajo Times article “Poison in the earth” https://navajotimes.com/news/2009/0709/072309uranium.php See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Who's to Blame for L.A.'s ‘Zombie Fire’?

On New Year’s Eve 2024, an Uber driver named Jonathan Rinderknecht allegedly started a fire in the Pacific Palisades. The fire was quickly contained, but it lingered on underground as a “zombie fire.” Days later, fueled by Santa Ana Winds, it exploded into the Palisades Fire, the most destructive conflagration in Los Angeles history. A second fire, ignited just hours later, destroyed much of neighboring Altadena. In the aftermath, angry residents wanted accountability – but who is to blame for a fire when the earth is now a tinderbox?Featured in this episode:Brad Weisshaupt, LA County Fire DepartmentTraci Park, LA City CouncilIndia BradleyNic Arnzen, Altadena Town CouncilDaniel Swain, University of CaliforniaSources:The Los Angeles TimesKTLA 5 NewsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.