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The South American nation of Guyana, whose economy has traditionally relied on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, has begun doing business with oil giant ExxonMobil to build a massive offshore oil drilling project along its coast.\xa0

The president has argued that the profits could pay for the nation's clean energy transition, while others argue that the nation's traditional economic models, biodiversity, and coastal population are at risk of severe environmental impacts from the project.\xa0

Award-winning journalist and podcast producer Amy Westervelt joins the Mongabay Newscast to share details of the situation, which is the focus of the 8th season of her acclaimed podcast series\xa0Drilled, and she opines about the power of podcasting and the current state of the global effort to tackle climate change:

• \u201cWhat a total failure of international climate negotiations that Global South countries [are] in this position of having to use oil money to pay for climate adaptation. That\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Westervelt says.

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Related Reading:

• Oil production or carbon neutrality? Why not both, Guyana says
• Guyana\u2019s future and challenges in oil: Q&A with filmmaker Shane Thomas McMillan
• Guyana seeks offshore oil wealth in a green economy

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage:\xa0news.mongabay.com\xa0or find and follow Mongabay on all the social media platforms.

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Image: Series artwork for "Drilled" Season 8 by Matt Fleming.\xa0