Exxon’s $600 Million Dollar Lie
We’re cracking open Exxon’s favorite myth that they’re coming to save the climate with algae-based biofuel…any day now.
Sources & Citations
Citations reference first appearance, without repeating for subsequent usage:
The Guardian: BP oil spill: death and devastation - an it’s just the start (2010)
The New York Times: Lessons From the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (2013)
The New York Times: Exxon Misled the Public on Climate Change, Study Says (2017)
The Guardian: Big oil and gas kept a dirty secret for decades. Now they may pay the price (2021)
News18: What’s Aura Farming? Gen Z’s Newest Obsession (2025)
Bloomberg: Global Warming: Is There Still Room For Doubt? (1997)
BBC: How the oil industry made us doubt climate change (2020)
ABC News: Oil: Exxon Chairman’s $400 Million Parachute (2006)
The New York Times: It’s Corn vs. Soybeans in a Biofuels Debate (2006)
The New York Times: Toxic Red Tide Kills ‘Uncountable’ Numbers of Fish in the Bay Area (2022)
The New York Times: Exxon to Invest Millions to Make Fuel From Algae (2009)
The Guardian: BP dropped green energy projects worth billions to focus on fossil fuels (2015)
Factor This: Oil Firms Break Promise on Biofuels as Chevron Defies California (2013)
MIT Technology Review: Exxon Takes Algae Fuel Back to the Drawing Board (2013)
Bloomberg: Exxon Retreats from Major Climate Effort to Make Biofuels From Algae (2023)
Reuters: Exxon, Chevron top Q3 profit expectations as US oil output hits record high (2024)
Congress of the United States: House of Representatives: Memorandum (September 14, 2022)
ExxonMobil: ExxonMobil outlines aggressive growth plans to more than double earnings (2018)
Springer Nature: Life cycle assessment of microalgae-derived biodiesel (2023)
The Guardian: Big oil firms touted algae as climate solution. Now all have pulled funding (2023)
Clean Technica: Exxon Shuts Down Algae Fuel Research Program (2023)
ABC News: Exxon Mobil must face environmental allegations, court rules (2022)
Reuters: Exxon posts strongest results since 2017, vows to resume share buybacks (2021)
Episode Credits
Creator/Host: Rollie Williams
Writers: Rollie Williams, Matt Nelsen & Irene Plagianos
Director: Matt Nelsen
Editors: Rollie Williams, Ryan Brown & Paul Ramsdell
Executive Producers: Rollie Williams, Matt Nelsen, Ben Boult, & Daniella Philipson
Cinematography: Ben Boult
Producer: Daniella Philipson, Miranda Manganaro & Irene Plagianos
Additional Cinematography: Matt Nelsen
Colorist: Nicholas Lareau
Intro Animator: Ian MK Cessna (https://ianhasawebsite.com/)
Theme music by: Gratis (https://www.youtube.com/@gratis3241)
Special thanks: Robert Brulle, Sarah Chow & Amy Westervelt
Special thanks to the Civil Liberties Defense Center (https://cldc.org/) for their continued support.
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