Blowout

This chapter explores Big Oil and Gas’s foray into drilling in the Arctic, a high-risk endeavor that has also provoked the wrath of environmentalists around the world. Maddow tells how two maritime vessels operated by Shell, the Kulluk and the Discoverer, or Disco, fared in the Arctic conditions. The Disco, completed in 1966, was originally used as a bulk carrier that transported wood from America to Asia. Drilling in the Arctic was highly risky, even dangerous, not to mention detrimental to the environment. Yet the prospect of producing exorbitant profits, due to the Arctic’s absurd amount of gas and oil, were too tempting to ignore. Yet after both the Kulluk and the Disco suffered severe mechanical failures, Shell announced a pause in its Arctic drilling program. For the rest of the industry, Shell’s venture became a cautionary tale: Perhaps the Arctic is too wild and unpredictable to sustain long-term drilling efforts.

Maddow focuses on the story of Guccifer, a Romanian hacker whose real name is Marcel Lehel Lazar. Guccifer unraveled many of America’s powerful elite, from politicians to celebrities, such as Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Guccifer caused more damage, more fear and paranoia, than any of the Russian spy rings that had infiltrated in the United States.