Yellowstone’s Critique of the Oil and Gas Industry
The show “Yellowstone” presents a nuanced portrayal of the modern American West, where the oil and gas industry features prominently as an antagonistic force rather than a celebrated one. While the Dutton family fights to preserve their ancestral ranch and way of life, they frequently find themselves in direct opposition to energy companies seeking to exploit Montana’s natural resources. Through its storylines, characterizations, and visual storytelling, the series offers a scathing critique of extractive industries and their impact on both the environment and traditional ways of life, suggesting that development and profit often come at too high a cost to communities and landscapes.
The primary conflict in “Yellowstone” centers around various external forces threatening the ranch, with energy development consistently positioned as one of the most significant antagonists. Dan Jenkins, the California developer, and Market Equities both represent forces of change that would transform the landscape through construction, but it’s the oil and gas companies that are portrayed as particularly ruthless and environmentally destructive. The show repeatedly highlights how these corporations use political influence, economic pressure, and sometimes even illegal tactics to gain access to resources regardless of the consequences for local ecosystems or communities. This portrayal resonates with real-world concerns about energy development in the American West, where debates over fracking, pipeline construction, and drilling rights continue to divide communities and shape political landscapes.
The series creator Taylor Sheridan, who grew up in rural Texas, brings an authentic perspective to these conflicts that avoids simplistic portrayals. While acknowledging the economic benefits that energy development can bring to struggling rural areas, “Yellowstone” more emphatically showcases the darker side of the industry: contaminated water sources, scarred landscapes, and the corruption that often accompanies resource extraction. Through characters like Chief Thomas Rainwater and his environmental advisor Angela Blue Thunder, the show incorporates indigenous perspectives that frame oil and gas development not just as an economic issue but as a continuation of historical exploitation and dispossession. These characters articulate a spiritual and cultural connection to the land that stands in stark contrast to the purely economic valuation offered by energy companies.
The visual language of “Yellowstone” further reinforces its critique of the oil and gas industry. The series juxtaposes breathtaking shots of Montana’s pristine wilderness with industrial scenes of drilling rigs, flaring gas wells, and polluted waterways. This contrast is not subtle—it deliberately positions natural beauty against industrial ugliness, inviting viewers to question whether the economic benefits of energy development justify its environmental costs. Episodes featuring water contamination from fracking operations or the construction of pipelines across sensitive ecosystems present these activities not as necessary progress but as avoidable destruction. Even when characters within the show advocate for energy development, the camera work and setting often undermine their arguments by highlighting what stands to be lost.
Beyond environmental concerns, “Yellowstone” explores how energy development disrupts communities and traditional economies. The Dutton ranch represents not just a business but a multi-generational way of life that provides employment, identity, and meaning to the family and their ranch hands. The show portrays oil and gas companies as threatening this heritage not through honest competition but through manipulation of political systems, exploitation of economic vulnerabilities, and disregard for local values. Characters who ally themselves with energy interests are frequently portrayed as corrupt, short-sighted, or disconnected from authentic relationships with the land. This narrative framing invites viewers to question whether supposed economic “progress” that destroys traditional livelihoods and community bonds represents genuine advancement or merely consolidation of wealth and power among elites.
While “Yellowstone” does acknowledge the complex reality of rural economics in the modern West, including the genuine need for jobs and development in struggling communities, its overall perspective on the oil and gas industry remains decidedly critical. By positioning John Dutton and his family—despite their many flaws—as sympathetic defenders of a threatened way of life, the show implicitly endorses their resistance to energy development on and around their land. Even when the series explores the moral ambiguity of the Duttons’ own actions, it rarely extends the same complexity to the oil and gas executives, who remain largely two-dimensional villains motivated by profit at any cost. This portrayal may simplify the real-world tensions surrounding energy development in the West, but it clearly places the show’s sympathies with those who seek to protect land and traditional uses rather than those who would extract its resources for short-term gain.
