Landman: Big Oil vs Climate Change on Mainstream TV
Finally, a non-apocalyptic discussion of climate change in pop culture
Something I’m Learning
On a certain weekend in January, I decided to binge watch the latest Taylor Sheridan offering. Landman is about the oil industry on the Texas-Mexico border. I figured it would be just as depressing as the other major thing on TV at that time, but at least more entertaining.
It delivered, on both counts. Like other Sheridan ‘wild west’ shows like Yellowstone or 1923, it’s got a great script and compelling characters who are never all-good or all-bad. But being about the all-powerful oil industry, it’s also depressing for those of us working on climate change, because there are multiple scenes pontificating about the virtues of fossil fuels and the naiveté of clean energy. I’ll get to those scenes below, but don’t worry, no spoiler alerts needed, since none of them reveal anything about the main story. They’re all side conversations to explain the climate change vs Big Oil debate - from Big Oil’s perspective.
Two of the these scenes are almost comical in tossing red meat to a conservative audience. They feature the show’s protagonist, a grizzled oil industry veteran (Billy Bob Thornton) mansplaining to his Gen Z lawyer who believes in climate change (Kayla Wallace).
See here for what I mean (this clip went somewhat viral):
Glorification of fossil fuels? Check. Vilification of clean energy? Check. Naïve young woman who must be schooled by wise old man? Check. Same woman then freezes at the sight of a rattlesnake and has to be rescued by the old man, thereby proving beyond doubt she is a clueless crybaby? Check check check.
The subtext is so on the nose you wonder if they meant it to be funny.
This happens early on. But several episodes later, just in case you’ve forgotten that the world inexorably runs on oil, here’s a quick hit of more mansplaining when the plucky lawyer complains she can’t advocate for something she doesn’t believe in.
I haven’t dug too much into the reception these scenes got but when I searched “landman climate change” on YouTube to find these clips from the show, the remaining search results included a bunch of podcasts gloating about how “woke climate activists get destroyed” on Landman. Yawn.
And yet. There is a single, fleeting, blink-and-you-miss-it, moment of recognition. During a meeting of oil industry executives, a climate change debate gets forcefully shut down by one owner (Jon Hamm) who says the only thing they should care about is the price of oil. As everyone subsides, another executive (who had just moments ago been scheming for Big Oil) quietly tells Jon Hamm that he better start caring about clean energy, because the fossil fuel party is ending.
By choosing to close the scene here, instead of rebutting the claim, it becomes a brief but unmistakable acknowledgement that the days of fossil fuels are numbered.
Of course I disagree with the arguments made in these scenes above. Here’s a longish video that aims to debunk them, in case you want to nerd out some more.
That said, most movies or shows exploring climate change tend to be of the apocalyptic/doomsday variety. So I was glad to see a serious conversation about climate change in a mainstream (even right-leaning) TV show made by one of the most successful showrunners of our time. And it was way better than what else was on TV that day.
Something to Consider
Some companies are staying the course. 2025 Global 100 list: World’s most sustainable companies are still betting on a greener world
Something to Quote
The disagreement between the young lawyer and the old oilman reminded me of this:
I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
- Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time