Bruce's Brazilian business partners run the state of Mato Grosso and the town the company is headquartered in. So while he fights endless pushback to his pipeline project in Iowa, business in Brazil is booming. This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil.

You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/

Bruce's Brazilian business partners run the state of Mato Grosso and the town the company is headquartered in. So while he fights endless pushback to his pipeline project in Iowa, business in Brazil is booming. This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil.
You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.intercept.com.br/">https://www.intercept.com.br/</a>

Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.

In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula&rsquo;s dream of turning Brazil into &ldquo;the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.&rdquo; It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

A true-crime podcast about climate change, hosted and reported by award-winning investigative journalist Amy Westervelt.

Drilled

The Brazilian Midwest

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f835103c-ac31-420d-abc5-b44800fea1a3/transcript

Industrial agriculture has wrapped itself in a green cloak in Mato Grosso, promising jobs, money and endless opportunities, all in the name of "sustainability." But the good times are only happening for a select few. Local residents are dealing with extreme weather, lack of access to fresh food, and a pesticide overload that has increased the risk of birth defects and lowered lifespans. Meanwhile, Bruce and the guys have now ventured into new territory: the Amazon.

This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/

Industrial agriculture has wrapped itself in a green cloak in Mato Grosso, promising jobs, money and endless opportunities, all in the name of "sustainability." But the good times are only happening for a select few. Local residents are dealing with extreme weather, lack of access to fresh food, and a pesticide overload that has increased the risk of birth defects and lowered lifespans. Meanwhile, Bruce and the guys have now ventured into new territory: the Amazon. This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: <a href="https://www.intercept.com.br/">https://www.intercept.com.br/</a>

Into the Amazon

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8858630a-ecce-4d89-b14a-b45d0127fc84/transcript

Bruce's venture in Brazil isn't the first time he tried to go global. What an earlier attempt tells us about him, his business, and what's ahead for both Iowa and "the Brazilian Midwest."

This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/

Bruce's venture in Brazil isn't the first time he tried to go global. What an earlier attempt tells us about him, his business, and what's ahead for both Iowa and "the Brazilian Midwest." This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: <a href="https://www.intercept.com.br/">https://www.intercept.com.br/</a>

The Ethanol Kingpin of Iowa

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f6595d7b-479d-4a08-aff1-b43a00f4512a/transcript

As his American company Summit Carbon Solutions struggles with backlash to a carbon capture pipeline linking corn ethanol plants across the Midwest, Bruce Rastetter is not slowing down. Instead, he’s celebrating some big wins for his Brazilian company, FS Fueling Sustainability, from new ethanol-friendly climate policy to government funding for their carbon capture project. 

Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. 

Additional resources:

The link between corn ethanol and deforestation

Peer-reviewed research on the climate problems associated with corn ethanol 

An explainer on BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration) 

Reading list on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) 

Read more about the Summit Pipeline project

Carbon Herald on the push to connect Midwest ethanol plants to carbon capture 

Brazilian government document on technical mission to US midwest 

Travel schedule of Brazilian government officials while in the Midwest 

Read more about the explosion of corn ethanol in Brazil: https://drilled.media/news/ethanol-story1

As his American company Summit Carbon Solutions struggles with backlash to a carbon capture pipeline linking corn ethanol plants across the Midwest, Bruce Rastetter is not slowing down. Instead, he&rsquo;s celebrating some big wins for his Brazilian company, FS Fueling Sustainability, from new ethanol-friendly climate policy to government funding for their carbon capture project. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/drilled/id1439735906">Apple Podcasts</a> or at <a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/join-pushkin">pushkin.fm/plus</a>. Additional resources:
<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-12/documents/environmental_challenges_associated_with_corn_ethanol_production.pdf">The link between corn ethanol and deforestation</a>
<a href="https://news.wisc.edu/at-bioenergy-crossroads-should-corn-ethanol-be-left-in-the-rearview-mirror/">Peer-reviewed research on the climate problems associated with corn ethanol</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://news.wisc.edu/at-bioenergy-crossroads-should-corn-ethanol-be-left-in-the-rearview-mirror/">An explainer on BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration)</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/enhanced-oil-recovery">Reading list on enhanced oil recovery (EOR)</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://drilled.media/news/summit-carbon-pipeline">Read more about the Summit Pipeline project</a>
<a href="https://carbonherald.com/from-corn-to-co2-how-the-midwest-is-powering-the-carbon-capture-drive/#:~:text=Summit%20Carbon%20Solutions%20is%20now,ethanol%20plants%20to%20underground%20storage">Carbon Herald on the push to connect Midwest ethanol plants to carbon capture</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://atosoficiais.com.br/anp/decisao-de-diretoria-n-488-2025-afastamento-do-pais-visita-tecnica-a-beccs-dakota-do-norte-usa?origin=instituicao&amp;q=Disney++us&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com">Brazilian government document on technical mission to US midwest</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28076897-travel-schedule-beccs-gevo-technical-visit/">Travel schedule of Brazilian government officials while in the Midwest</a>&nbsp; Read more about the explosion of corn ethanol in Brazil:&nbsp;<a href="https://drilled.media/news/ethanol-story1">https://drilled.media/news/ethanol-story1</a>

The Carbon Gold Rush

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/df479c30-e4f1-4977-80ec-b43601063a1d/transcript

The Brazilian Midwest

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