Hydrocarbon hucksters : lessons from Louisiana on oil, politics, and environmental justice / Ernest Zebrowski and Mariah Zebrowski Leach.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zebrowski, Ernest.

Contributor:

Zebrowski Leach, Mariah.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Petroleum industry and trade--Political aspects--Louisiana.

Petroleum industry and trade.

Petroleum industry and trade--Environmental aspects--Louisiana.

Louisiana--Politics and government--1951-.

Louisiana.

Louisiana--Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Jackson, Mississippi : University Press of Mississippi, 2014.

Summary:

"Hydrocarbon Hucksters is the saga of the oil industry's takeover of Louisiana--its leaders, its laws, its environment, and, by channeling the flow of public information, its voters. It is a chronicle of mind-boggling scientific and technical triumphs sharing the same public stew with myths about the "goodness" of oil and bald-faced public lies by politicians and the captains of industry.It is a story of money and power, greed and corruption, jingoism and exploitation, pollution and disease, and the bewilderment and resignation of too many of the powerless. Most importantly, Hydrocarbon Hucksters is a case study of what happens when a state uncritically hands the oil and petrochemical industries everything they desire. Today, Louisiana ranks at or near the bottom of the fifty states on virtually every measure related to the quality of life--income, health, education, environment, public services, public safety, physical infrastructure, and vulnerability to disasters. Nor, contrary to the claims of the hydrocarbon sector, has there been much in the way of job creation to offset all of this social grief. The authors (one scientist, the other an environmental lawyer) have woven together the science, legal history, economic issues, and national and global contexts of what has happened. Their objective is to raise enough national awareness to prevent other parts of the United States from repeating Louisiana's historical follies. The authors are uncle and niece, a generation apart, who have melded their conclusions from two separate tracks"-- Provided by publisher.

"Hydrocarbon Hucksters is the saga of the oil industry's takeover of Louisiana--its leaders, its laws, its environment, and, by rechanneling the flow of public information, its voters. It is a chronicle of mindboggling scientific and technical triumphs sharing the same public stew with myths about the "goodness" of oil and bald-faced public lies by politicians and the captains of industry. It is a story of money and power, greed and corruption, jingoism and exploitation, pollution and disease, and the bewilderment and resignation of too many of the powerless. Most importantly, Hydrocarbon Hucksters is a case study of what happens when a state uncritically hands the oil and petrochemical industries everything they desire. Today, Louisiana ranks at or near the bottom of the fifty states on virtually every measure related to the quality of life--income, health, education, environment, public services, public safety, physical infrastructure, and vulnerability to disasters (both natural and man-made). Nor, contrary to the claims of the hydrocarbon sector, has there been much in the way of job creation to offset all of this social grief.The authors (one a scientist, the other an environmental lawyer) have woven together the science, legal history, economic issues, and national and global contexts of what has happened. Their objective is to raise enough national awareness to prevent other parts of the United States from repeating Louisiana's historical follies. The authors are uncle and niece, a generation apart, who have melded their conclusions from two separate tracks"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Preface; Louisiana by the Numbers; 1. The Well from Hell; 2. Black Gold; 3. Onto the Shelves; 4. Oops-1980; 5. More Oops-1969, 1979, and 1989; 6. Social Scruples Bedeviled; 7. Chemical Voodoo; 8. What Do the Simple Folk Do?; 9. Of Wisdom and Folly; 10. Drill, Baby, Drill; 11. The Oil Industry's Gifts Keep Giving; 12. Can America Learn?; Source Notes; Further Reading; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-62103-987-0

1-61703-899-7

OCLC:

844074330