“Oil guys” often thank Billy Bob Thornton for a monologue he delivered about renewable energy in Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, Thornton recently said on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
In episode three of the West Texas-set show’s first season, Thornton’s character, oil crisis manager Tommy Norris, practically scoffs at his attorney for calling wind turbines “clean energy.”
“Do you have any idea how much diesel they have to burn to mix that much concrete or make that steel and haul this s— out here and put it together with a 450-foot crane?” Norris tells her as they observe a wind farm. “In its 20-year life span, it won’t offset the carbon footprint of making it.”
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Norris continued, professing skepticism over the feasibility of a world powered solely by electric energy. “Our whole lives depend” on oil, he said.
When the episode came out last November, it stirred debate on social media around the accuracy of Norris’ statements about the environmental footprint of wind turbines.
A writer for the Los Angeles Times criticized the show in a January column for containing “fossil fuel propaganda.” The article cited research showing a shorter carbon payback period than what Norris described in Landman.
“People try to politicize everything. The fact of the matter is that Taylor with that show is not taking a side,” Thornton told Rogan, referring to the online stir around Norris’ speech. “He’s just saying here’s a look behind the curtain at how this works.”
Landman, which has taped across North Texas, returns to Paramount+ for a second season on Nov. 16. The sophomore debut sees Norris leading M-Tex Oil after the death of his friend and former boss, Monty Miller.
Thornton, co-star Michelle Randolph and Landman newcomer Sam Elliott walked a red carpet at Fort Worth’s Modern Art Museum before a screening from season two last week.
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