Welcome to Carbon Cowboys

Summary

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Drilled: "Welcome to Carbon Cowboys"

Release Date: May 5, 2026
Host: Amy Westervelt
Producer: Pushkin Industries
Episode Theme:
An exposé on Bruce Rastetter, Republican power-broker and corn ethanol magnate, and his global expansion of carbon capture and ethanol projects from Iowa to Brazil. The episode investigates how these projects are sold as climate solutions, the international regulatory landscape, and the underlying reality that these technologies may exacerbate the climate crisis rather than solve it.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This season premiere uncovers the story of Bruce Rastetter, his role in transforming climate policy—both in the US and Brazil—and how so-called "clean" solutions like corn ethanol and carbon capture are leveraging markets for financial gain, rather than yielding real environmental benefits. The narrative interrogates how corporate innovation, government incentives, and greenwashing converge in the race to control global carbon markets.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bruce Rastetter’s Expansion into Brazil – Early 2010s to Present

• [00:06-01:02]
  • Rastetter, a major figure in Iowa’s biofuels boom and Republican donor, moved into Brazil in 2011, seeking to replicate his “factory farming” and biofuel successes abroad.
  • His mission: secure vast tracts of land and help position Brazil for the “gold rush” of carbon and its derivatives.
  • Quote:

    "Carbon and its derivatives are gonna be really the next great commodity that the globe's gonna trade."
    — Bruce Rastetter [00:51]

2. Regulatory Capture and Green Incentives

• [01:02-02:15]
  • Rastetter expertly exploited green energy incentives in both countries, transitioning from corn to ethanol and then to carbon capture.
  • He and his company, FSB Bioenergia, not only promoted these methods in Brazil but were instrumental in shaping new regulations to favor them.
  • Quote:

    "FS is promoting regulation, pioneering prospecting, and even drawing on the experience of its partners in the United States."
    — Bruce Rastetter [02:05]

3. The Reality Behind Corn Ethanol & Carbon Capture

• [02:15-02:53]
  • The episode debunks the climate benefits of corn ethanol and carbon capture, revealing them as lucrative schemes rather than genuine solutions.
  • Critics point out that such technology is a “waste stream”—incentivizing further CO2 production without real emission cuts.
  • Quote:

    "It's a waste stream, first and foremost. And any policies that incentivize its uptake and use risk incentivizing an increase in its production."
    — Critic/Environmental Analyst [02:39]

4. Double Profits for Polluters

• [02:53-03:13]
  • Much of the captured CO2 is used for enhanced oil recovery—pumping the gas underground to help push more oil to the surface, creating a cycle of profit and emissions.
  • Quote:

    "They get paid to get the CO2. They earn a profit in getting CO2 out of the ground, and then they can use it to get oil out of the ground and earn a profit on the oil, too."
    — Bruce Rastetter [03:03]

5. Public Resistance and Market Cynicism

• [03:13-03:26]
  • As Rastetter expands abroad, public skepticism rises in the Midwest, with both ordinary citizens and environmentalists calling out the carbon capture scheme as a "scam."
  • Quote:

    "The rank and file folks on the ground in the Midwest think it's one big scam and a lot of environmentalists on the ground, they also think it's a scam."
    — Bruce Rastetter [03:18]

6. The Big Picture: Carbon as Commodity vs. Pollution

• [03:26-04:15]
  • The episode frames the moment as a global crossroads: will carbon become just another tradable asset, furthering pollution under a green veneer, or will genuine climate action prevail?
  • Sets the stage for the season’s investigation into these power structures, technological limitations, and the consequences for global climate policy.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Carbon and its derivatives are gonna be really the next great commodity that the globe's gonna trade."
  — Bruce Rastetter [00:51]

• "It's a waste stream, first and foremost. And any policies that incentivize its uptake and use risk incentivizing an increase in its production."
  — Critic/Environmental Analyst [02:39]

• "They get paid to get the CO2… and then they can use it to get oil out of the ground and earn a profit on the oil, too."
  — Bruce Rastetter [03:03]

• "The rank and file folks on the ground in the Midwest think it's one big scam… a lot of environmentalists… also think it's a scam."
  — Bruce Rastetter [03:18]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:06–01:02: Bruce Rastetter’s origin story and journey from Iowa to Brazil.
• 01:02–02:15: How U.S. ethanol and carbon policy innovation is exported to Brazil.
• 02:15–02:53: The environmental critique of corn ethanol and carbon capture—policy vs. science.
• 02:53–03:13: How CO2 capture ties directly into increased oil production and profit.
• 03:13–03:26: Rising public skepticism—Midwest resistance to the pipeline and carbon schemes.
• 03:26–04:15: The season’s core dilemma—carbon as commodity versus real climate action.

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Tone & Style

• Investigative and candid, blending detailed reportage with sharp on-the-ground commentary.
• Quotes from Bruce Rastetter are delivered in a direct, matter-of-fact tone, contrasting with the skeptical, sometimes incredulous perspective of critics and the narrator.
• The episode concludes with a sense of urgency, inviting listeners to explore the real-world stakes behind headline climate solutions.

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Bottom Line:
“Welcome to Carbon Cowboys” sets the stage for a dissection of the global carbon economy—how policy, profit, and illusion can sideline true climate progress. The episode introduces Bruce Rastetter as the archetype of a new breed of carbon traders, asking if the future of climate action will be dictated by markets or by meaningful regulation and community opposition.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Pushkin. In 2011, Bruce Rastetter headed down to Brazil. He was not just another Midwest tourist headed to the Amazon. Bruce had pioneered factory farming in Iowa and then done the same for biofuels and this thing called carbon capture. He. He's a big Republican donor, too, so he went to Brazil looking for land.

[Bruce Rastetter]

So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went from Bahia to Tocatines to Mato Grosso, and he flew down

[Narrator]

with a team of executives. They said they were gonna help the country get in on a gold rush.

[Bruce Rastetter]

Carbon and its derivatives are gonna be really the next great commodity that the globe's gonna trade. It's a huge opportunity, but we won't qualify unless we lower our carbon intensity scores.

[Narrator]

Over the last couple of decades, climate regulators have worked hard to incentivize green energy solutions. And Bruce Rastetter knows better than anyone how to take advantage of something like that. He's gotten huge government kickbacks by pivoting from growing corn to making corn ethanol. And now he's helping the ethanol industry get paid for capturing their carbon emissions.

[Critic/Environmental Analyst]

So the this Republican kingmaker is planning on this get rich scheme of us paying him to capture CO2 at ethanol plants and then shipping it across private land and public land and then disposing of it somewhere, many states away.

[Narrator]

For the last 10 years, Bruce and his Brazilian company, FSB Bioenergia, have been pushing corn ethanol and carbon capture in Brazil, even helping to draft Brazilian regulations around it.

[Bruce Rastetter]

FS is promoting regulation, pioneering prospecting, and even drawing on the experience of its partners in the United States.

[Narrator]

Now, corn ethanol production and carbon capture are so big in Brazil, they're the top competitor to the US but trouble back home is threatening to topple Bruce's whole carbon empire. Because here's the thing. Corn ethanol has never been a climate solution. And the idea of capturing carbon, it's kind of a joke.

[Critic/Environmental Analyst]

It's a waste stream, first and foremost. And any policies that incentivize its uptake and use risk incentivizing an increase in its production.

[Narrator]

Once that carbon gets captured, oil companies send most of it underground to extract even more oil so we can burn even more fossil fuels and create more

[Bruce Rastetter]

emissions, they get paid to get the CO2. They earn a profit in getting CO2 out of the ground, and then they can use it to get oil out of the ground and earn a profit on the oil, too.

[Narrator]

By the time Bruce got to Brazil, the people of Iowa were on to him.

[Bruce Rastetter]

The rank and file folks on the ground in the Midwest think it's one big scam and a lot of environmentalists on the ground, they also think it's a scam.

[Narrator]

Today, Bruce and the world are at a tipping point. Will carbon be a commodity traded on the markets, divorced entirely from its role as a pollutant? Or will we choose a different path? Welcome to season 15 of Drilled Carbon Cowboys, the story of the ethanol kingpin of Iowa who became the king of corn in Brazil, and what it tells us about the limits of technology and markets to solve the climate crisis. This season is a collaboration between Drilled and the Intercept Brazil. You can get the Portuguese version over on the Intercept Brazil's feed. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast.

[Bruce Rastetter]

It.