Book SummaryBlowout, by Rachel Maddow

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Blowout

In Blowout, journalist and MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow investigates corruption in the energy industry and condemns its effects on the environment, the economies of oil- and gas-rich nations, and the balance of power in Europe. Maddow examines oil and gas production across the world—focusing mainly on the United States, Russia, and Equatorial Guinea—to illustrate how the industry relies on exploitation and environmental destruction wherever it operates. Ultimately, she argues that the only way to protect people from the industry—while continuing to reap the benefits of oil and gas—is to place it under strict government regulation.

(Shortform note: Though she got her start in radio and has written several books, Maddow is best known for her successful MSNBC news analysis program. Fans typically praise her focus on data and...

Blowout Summary Why Oil and Gas Are So Profitable

Maddow argues that the problems oil and gas create for the world, both politically and environmentally, are not a side effect but inherent to these industries. With the discovery of oil and gas in the 19th century and the perfecting of mining techniques in the 20th, burning fuel became the world’s dominant energy source. Early American oilmen and gasmen saw profit from prioritizing vast production and cost-cutting over environmental concerns, and their wealth gave them significant power to manipulate the economy and even national politics.

Oil

The discovery of rock oil in America in the mid-1800s caused an energy revolution, and today oil powers cars, trains, jets, farm equipment, power plants, and factories more cheaply and easily than previous power sources like coal or whale fat. Maddow explains that almost immediately, the industry was controlled by a monopoly: John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. By the end of the century, the company had effectively destroyed or bought out all competition, and Rockefeller remains the richest person in American history.

(Shortform note: Standard Oil used a variety of tactics to undermine its competitors, including [buying out...

Blowout Summary How Energy Production Can Weaken a Country

While oil and gas production has been extremely profitable for the US and has increased American influence abroad, this is not the case for the majority of energy-producing countries. Maddow cites The Paradox of Plenty by Terry Karl as originating the theory of “the resource curse,” the idea that countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to be more authoritarian, have less stable economies, and experience greater social unrest and violence than countries that profit mainly off of manufacturing and trade.

(Shortform note: The Paradox of Plenty focuses on Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC whose economy is largely dependent on oil to this day. Karl argues that the oil boom and subsequent bust of the 1960s-’90s contributed to the political and social upheavals of the same period. The resource curse theory has also been applied to countries where the primary natural resource is diamonds, gold, or other precious metals, such as in the...

Blowout Summary How the Energy Industry Hurts the Environment

Maddow contends that oil and gas mining have both had devastating impacts on the environment over the last century, destroying ecosystems, poisoning the people who live near drilling sites, and contributing to climate change. Attempts to regulate the industry have stalled as energy magnates lobby for less government oversight and insist that scientific evidence showing the connection between their industry and environmental damage is either a hoax or ambiguous.

(Shortform note: Maddow doesn’t discuss the connection between cars and climate change, probably assuming that most readers are already familiar with this topic. As a brief overview, burning oil in the form of gasoline releases large quantities of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, which reduces air quality and contributes to global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has advised that the world must significantly [curtail its dependency on gasoline and other fossil fuels within the next 10-15...

Blowout Summary Russia’s Energy Monopoly and Its Political Consequences

Maddow describes Russia’s energy industry as one of the most corrupt in the world, with President Vladimir Putin using his position to take over private energy companies and redistribute their resources among his allies. His administration’s increased wealth and power has enabled not just Russia’s dominance of the gas industry in Europe but also, Maddow argues, its increasingly aggressive and illegal behavior in Ukraine since the 2010s.

(Shortform note: Maddow’s discussions of Russian interference in Ukraine only mention the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and subsequent war in Donbas, since the book was published in October 2019, before Russia’s February 2022 invasion. In a televised address on February 24, 2022, Putin claimed that Russia was fighting for the “demilitarization and denazification” of an increasingly “anti-Russia” Ukraine. Critics of the invasion argued that it [violated both Ukrainian sovereignty and international...

Blowout Summary How to Protect the World From the Energy Industry

Maddow closes the book by discussing some possibilities for curbing the negative effects of the energy industry; namely, by bringing an end to tax breaks for oil and gas companies, requiring more transparency on their dealings with foreign governments, and enforcing stricter government regulation of where, when, and how these companies can drill.

She argues that requiring energy companies to pay higher taxes would mean that their profits would enrich the citizens of the state where drilling takes place, not just the energy executives. More transparency, as enforced by laws that would require companies to report exactly how much money (and for what goods or services) is changing hands, could bring an end to corruption; if ExxonMobil had to report on its dealings with Equatorial Guinea or Russia this extensively, bribes and money laundering would become impossible. Finally, strict government regulation of drilling activity could prevent accidents and...

Shortform Exercise: Consider Energy Dependency

Though Maddow is critical of the energy industry, she also stresses how essential oil and gas are to modern life, work, and trade. Her suggestions for change focus on how we can mold the industry to do less harm and be more beneficial to the people dependent upon it.

What role do oil and gas play in your life? Do you use one or both every day?