65 showed distorted body shapes, hearts, and eyes Michael Wines, "Fish Embryos Exposed to Oil from BP Spill Develop Deformities, a Study Finds," New York Times, March 25, 2014.
65 Vessels of Opportunity program Joseph Goodman, "Gulf Oil Spill Threatens Louisiana Native Americans' Way of Life," Miami Herald, June 1, 2010.
65 some developed skin lesions, blurredvision, breathing difficulties, and headaches Antonia Juhasz, "Investigation: Two Years After the BP Spill, a Hidden Health Crisis Festers," The Nation, April 18, 2012, http://www.thenation.com/article/investigation-two-years-after-bp-spill-hidden-health-crisis-festers.
65 so no one knew if they would work BP engineers had violated standard operating procedures, skipping four of the five precautionary steps routinely followed and relying solely, and fatally, on one last step. In a highly unusual move, Exxon officials publicly declared that the accident should never have happened.
66 Half opposed it, and only a third favored it Lawrence C. Hamilton, Thomas G. Safford, and Jessica D. Ulrich, "In the Wake of the Spill: Environmental Views Along the Gulf Coast," Social Science Quarterly 93, no. 4 (2012), 1053-64. Residents surveyed were nearly all Republicans, and in one of the two parishes surveyed 17 percent of all workers—and in the second 26 percent—worked for oil and gas companies. Others worked in service jobs in the area. Residents of Florida who were, ironically, less hurt by the spill were more in favor of the moratorium. Nationwide, only a third of those polled in a Bloomberg survey supported the ban. Kim Chipman, "Americans in 73% Majority Oppose Ban on Deepwater Oil Drilling," Bloomberg, July 14, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-07-14/americans-in-73-majority-oppose-ban-on-deepwater-drilling-after-oil-spill.
66 "The spill makes us sad, but the moratorium makes us mad" Oliver A. Houck, "The Reckoning: Oil and Gas Development in the Louisiana Coastal Zone," Tulane Environmental Law Journal 28, no. 2 (2015), 185-296.
66 they were managing strong feelings of anxiety, fear, and anger In The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), I use the term "emotional labor" for the paid work of trying to feel or appearing to feel the required feelings for the job, and applied it to such paid service jobs as flight attendant, care worker, nurse, and salesperson. I used the term "emotion work" for the same emotion management we do for free at home, or anywhere else outside of paid work.
67 Louisiana is one of the most permissive states in the nation The state does not regulate "on-premises hours" (i.e., last call) for establishments that serve alcohol (though parishes can establish their own). Louisiana Law Regarding the Unlawful Sale, Purchase and Possession of Alcoholic Beverages, Louisiana R.S.14:93.10-14.
67 supported, naturally, by an alcohol lobbying group Michael Mizell-Nelson, "Nurturing the Drive-Through Daiquiri," Louisiana Cultural Vistas, March 12, 2015.
67 Louisiana also has a "Stand Your Ground" law, permitting a frightened homeowner to shoot first See "Louisiana State Profile" on the National Rifle Association's website (accessed July 31, 2015), https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-gun-laws/louisiana. In a 2013 scorecard prepared by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign, Louisiana ranked 40th for its gun laws and received an "F." See Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign, 2013 State Scorecard: Why Gun Laws Matter (San Francisco: Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 2013), http://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/SCGLM-Final 10-spreads-points.pdf.
68 double the national average Stephen Clark, "Gun Control Advocates Decry Louisiana's New Law Allowing Churchgoers to Pack Heat," Fox News, July 8, 2010, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/08/gun-control-advocates-decry-louisianas-new-law-allowing-churchgoers-pack-heat.html. As Clark notes, "The state's gun death rate is 19.87 per 100,000, according to an analysis by the Violence Policy Center of 2006 data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The national gun death rate is 10 per 100,000."
68 restrictions on clinics offering the procedure Adam Liptak, "Supreme Court Blocks Louisiana Abortion Law," New York Times, March 4, 2016, http:// http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/us/politics/supreme-court-blocks-louisiana-abortion-law.html?_r=0.
68 The parish imposed a $50 fine for a first offense and $100 for a second "Baggy Pants Law Will Fine Offenders in Louisiana Parish," Huffington Post, April 14, 2013 (accessed November 3, 2015), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/14/baggy-pants-law-fine-louisiana_n_3080851.html.
68 wear "something reflective" and visible from all directions on an outer garment when walking after dark Sarah Childress, "Has the Justice Department Found a New Town That Preys on Its Poor?" Frontline, April 27, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/has-the-justice-department-found-a-new-town-that-preys-on-its-poor.
69 more than Russia or Cuba Institute for Criminal Policy Research, World Prison Brief, http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate.
70 calling everyone who knows somebody at the plant Mishaps usually occur, she explained, during scheduled release (a legally permitted gas or liquid emission) or during a "turnaround" (a period during which workers bring a unit down, clean it or switch production to a new product, then bring it back online).
70 the second in thirteen months One explosion occurred December 24, 2012, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. Malia Spencer, "Fire Damages PPG Industries Plant in Louisiana," December 27, 2012, http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2012/12/27/plant-fire-causes-force-majeure-for-ppg.html. A second occurred December 20, 2013. Associated Press, "Number of Injured from Axiall Chemical Plant Fire in Westlake Bises to 18," Times-Picayune, December 25, 2013, http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/12/number_of_injured_from_axiall.html.
5: The "Least Resistant Personality"
74 15 percent of all jobs in the state Loren C. Scott, The Energy Sector: Still a Giant Economic Engine for the Louisiana Economy—an Update, Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and Grow Louisiana Coalition report, 2014, http://www.growlouisianacoalition.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Loren-Scott-Study.pdf. The energy sector "supports" 287.008 jobs, bringing the total estimate to 15 percent.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, of the 1,535,407 employed people in Louisiana, 9,637 worked in "oil and gas extraction," 20,823 worked in "chemical manufacturing," 12,163 in "petroleum and coal products manufacturing," and 2,734 in "plastics and rubber products manufacturing." See Loren C. Scott, The Energy Sector: A Giant Economic Engine for the Louisiana Economy, Baton Rouge: Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (accessed June 18, 2015), http://www.scribd.com/doc/233387193/The-Energy-Sector-A-Giant-Economic-Engine-for-the-Louisiana-Economy.
74 -pipeline transportation in 2014 The number of oil workers could be lower still. According to the 2014 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates, not seasonally adjusted, total "Oil & Gas" jobs made up 3.32 percent of all Louisiana workers. This number included oil and gas extraction, support activities for mining, petroleum and coal products manufacturing, and pipeline transportation. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages [December 2014 estimates]" (accessed June 18, 2015), http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/dsrv?en.
74 he filled, the report said, by workers from outside southwest Louisiana Sasol funded the Southwest Louisiana Regional Impact Study, with a team that included private sector consultants as well as academics from McNeese State University. The study was released in October 2014. CSRS, Southwest Louisiana Regional Impact Study, 2014, 1, 3, http://www.gogroupswla.com/tools-resources/studies/regional-impact-study. Of the new hires, 13,000 out of 18,000 are expected to be recruited from outside southwest Louisiana. As the report notes, "SWLA (Southwest Louisiana) does not have enough people to supply the required additional workforce. Projections suggest that over 13,000 jobs will need to be filled by people migrating to SWLA" (3).
74 Filipino workers have worked for over a decade on oil platforms in the Gulf CS
RS, ibid. Often the presence of Filipino workers in Louisiana comes to light via news of accidents on oil rigs. Jennifer A. Dlouhy, "Dangers Face Immigrant Contract Workforce in Gulf," FuelFix, November 3, 2013, http:// fuelfix.com/blog/2013/11/03/dangers-face-immigrant-contractor-work force-in-gulf. The local television station also ran a story about an injured Filipino worker injured on a Gulf oil rig. Associate Press, "Gulf Platform Owner Sued Over Deadly 2012 Blast," KPLC-TV, http://www.kplctv.com/story/23832004/gulf-platform-owner-sued-over-deadly-2012-blast.
75 tours through plantation manor homes, catching fish, and farming Curt Eysink, Louisiana Workforce Information Review, 2010, Statewide Report, https://www.doleta.gov/performance/results/AnnualReports/2010_economic_reports/la_economic_report_py2010_workforce.pdf
75 down from 42 percent in 1982 Ballotpedia, "Louisiana State Budget and Finances," 2013, https://ballotpedia.org/Louisiana_state_budget_and_finances. Also see "Bureau of Economic Analysis [Regional Datafile]": Louisiana, 2013 (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Economic Analysis), retrieved September 22, 2015.
75 state revenue from such companies fell from $703 million in 2008 to $290 million in 2012 The total effective tax rate (based on all state and local taxes, including income tax, franchise tax, sales tax, and property tax) is less than 1 percent. "Today, the Tax Foundation ranks Louisiana No. 1 in the U.S. in overall tax competitiveness for new manufacturing operations, both those that rely heavily on labor investment and those that rely more heavily on capital investment. In addition, Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the U.S. in overall tax competitiveness for both new and mature research-and-development facilities." See "New Tax Foundation Ranking Indicates Dramatic Improvement in Louisiana's Business Tax Competitiveness," Louisiana Economic Development (accessed January 5, 2014), http://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/175. See Gordon Russell, "Giving Away Louisiana: An Overview," The Advocate, Special Reports, November 26, 2014, http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_bbb73f9d-4261-59a9-bd30-0458dc1d1319.html.
75 the state received over $1 billion in 2008 but less than $886 million in 2012 "Governing, the State and Localities," Governing.com (accessed Sept 21, 2015), http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-tax-revenue-data.html.
75 offers "the lowest business taxes in the entire country for new manufacturing projects" Louisiana Economic Development, "Louisiana: At the Epicenter of the U.S. Industrial Rebirth," 2012, http://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/265.
75 between 2010 and 2013, performed no audits at all Institute for Southern Studies, "Looting Louisiana: How the Jindal Administration Is Helping Big Oil Rip Off a Cash-Strapped State," https://www.facingsouth.org/2015/05/looting-louisiana-how-the-jindal-administration-is.html. The report cites the Louisiana Department of Revenue, "Tax Exemption Budget, 2011-2012" and "Tax Exemption Budget 2014-2015." Also see Chico Harlan, "Battered by Drop in Oil Prices and Jindal's Fiscal Policies, Louisiana Falls into Budget Crisis," Washington Post, March 4, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/04/the-debilitating-economic-disaster-louisianas-governor-left-behind.
76 oil wages don't trickle down; they leak out Paul H. Templet, "Defending the Public Domain: Pollution, Subsidies and Poverty," PERI Working Paper No. 12 (January 2001), http://ssrn.com/abstract=333280 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.333280.
76 "rather where they live, in Greenwich, Connecticut, say, or Mill Valley, California" Templet offered a hypothetical example. Exxon extracts a billion dollars' worth of oil from Louisiana, but pays only half a billion in wages to suppliers/contractors and workers and to taxes in Louisiana. The other half a billion dollars flows to Exxon headquarters for distribution to management and to dividends for shareholders of Exxon stock, usually located in other states. This is why, he explained, in the 1990s, about a third of Louisiana's annual wealth generated (GSP) flowed to other states. E-mail communication, November 5, 2015.
77 the sum of the value of all goods and services produced by the state P.H. Templet, "Grazing the Commons; Externalities, Subsidies and Economic Development," Ecological Economics 12 (February 1995): 141—59; P.H. Templet, "Defending the Public Domain, Pollution, Subsidies and Poverty," in Natural Assets: Democratizing Environmental Ownership, edited by James K. Boyce and Barry G. Shelley (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2003).
77 In 1979, 19 percent of Louisianans lived below the poverty line; in 2014, it was 18 percent One reason oil doesn't alleviate poverty is that the oil sector does not actually feed the non-oil sector of the Louisiana economy; the two sectors rise and fall differently. Between 2003 and 2013, for example, jobs in oil held steady, but the state's total employment fluctuated strongly—with peaks in 2004 and 2007 and troughs in 2003 and 2005-2006.
77 Nissan from California to Tennessee Caroline Hanley and Michael T. Douglass, "High Road, Low Road or Off Road: Economic Development Strategies in the American States," Economic Development Quarterly 28:3 (2014): I-10.
77 the Democratic, California model Oil dominated in Louisiana and Texas. But are there similar links to economic strategy elsewhere in the United States? Tobacco is big in the southeast, where industry has long opposed excise taxes on cigarettes. Amanda Fallin, Rachel Grana, and Stanton A. Glantz, '"To Quarterback Behind the Scenes, Third-Party Efforts': The Tobacco Industry and the Tea Party," Tobacco Control, February 8, 2013, http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2013/02/07/tobaccocontrol-2012-050815. The Tea Party governor of Maine, Paul LePage, is backed by the logging industry and passed legislation to weaken lumber certification. While the company-sponsored certification system uses the term "sustainable" (as in the term Sustainable Forestry Initiative), it approves clear-cutting up to the size of ninety football fields. See Jackie Wei, "Governor LePage Undermines Maine's Green-Building Economy, Sets Back Sustainable Forestry," NRDC .org, December 12, 2011, https://www.nrdc.org/media/2011/111212. Were Tea Party state legislators in southern California mindful of agribusiness's interest in the "over-regulation" of pesticides? Heath Brown, The Tea Party Divided: The Hidden Diversity of a Maturing Movement (New York: Praeger, 2015), 78.
78 A 2016 survey of the world's major economies Catherine L. Mann, "Environment and Trade: Do Stricter Environmental Policies Hurt Expert Competitiveness?" Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, http://www.oecd.org/economy/greeneco/do-stricter-environmental-policies-hurt-export-competitiveness.htm. Also see Silvia Albrizio, Enrico Botta, Tomasz Kozluk, and Vera Zipperer, "Do Environmental Policies Matter for Productivity Growth? Insights from New Cross-County Measures of Environmental Policies," Working Paper Number 1176, December 3, 2014, http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/do-environmental-policies-matter-for-productivity-growth_5jxrjncjrcxp-en.
78 I wondered why my Tea Party friends weren't hearing about it Stephen M. Meyer, "Environmentalism and Economic Prosperity: Testing the Environmental Impact Hypothesis," MIT Project on Environmental Politics and Policy (1992); Stephen M. Meyer, "Environmentalism and Economic Prosperity: An Update," MIT Project on Environmental Politics and Policy (1993); Stephen M. Meyer, "Endangered Species Listings and State Economic Performance," MIT Project on Environmental Politics and Policy (1995); John B.E. Bliese, The Great "Environment Versus Economy" Myth (New York: Brownstone Policy Institute, 1999): Boger H. Bezdek, Bob-ert M. Wendling, and Paula DiPerna, "Environmental Protection, the Economy, and Jobs: National and Begional Analyses," Journal of Environmental Management 86, no. 1 (2008): 63-79.
78 Shell Oil Company supports the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Barbara Koeppel, "Cancer Alley, Louisiana," The Nation, November 8, 1999, 16-24.
79 live in cleaner environments Arthur O'Connor, "Political Polarization and Environmental Inequality: A Pilot Study of Pollution Belease Amounts and Practices in 'Red' Versus 'Blue' States," International Environmental Review 13, no. 4: 308-22. The seven remaining states (for fifty states plus the District of Columbia) are swing or "purple" states, with no strong or consistent margin of victory for a given political party in their voting records:
Nevada, West Virginia, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, and Ohio. Using the EPA's 2010 Toxics Belease Inventory (or TBI) for these states, he correlated pollution rates with the voting histories of various states in the union.
80 The poorer the state, research found, the less regulated it was likely to be In "Managing Community Acceptance of Major Industrial Projects," Bonald Luke—who served on the Texas Health and Human Services Council under Republican governor Rick Perry, and as director of the Texas Association of Business—reports that the wealthier the state, the greater the regulation of hazardous waste. He also notes, "the siting of major facilities in most areas of the country is predominantly a political question." Ronald Luke, "Managing Community Acceptance of Major Industrial Projects," Coastal Zone Management Journal 7 (1980): 292; James Lester, James Franke, Ann Bowman, and Kenneth Kramer, "Hazardous Wastes, Politics, and Public Policy: A Comparative State Analysis," Western Political Quarterly 36 (1983): 255-85.
80 define communities that would not resist "locally undesirable land use" Cerrell Associates, Inc., Political Difficulties Facing Waste-to-Energy Conversion Plant Siting (Los Angeles, CA: Cerrell Associates, 1984).
6: Industry: "The Buckle in America's Energy Belt"
85 $84 billion spread over sixty-six industrial projects in southwest Louisiana over the next five years Michael Kurth, "On the Brink of the Boom," Lag-niappe, May 6, 2014, http://www.bestofswla.com/2014/05/06/brink-boom (Lagniappe is a local publication, publishing mostly business news). I*n 2013, along with Texas and Pennsylvania, Louisiana accounted for over 64 percent of the $145 billion in capital investments in the United States, according to the 2014 US Investment Monitor, prepared by Ernst & Young LLP. A third of that investment came from abroad, and over half of foreign investment came from the chemical manufacturing sector, driven by the prospect of cheap natural gas (eleven out of the twenty biggest capital investments). The two very largest investments in Lake Charles were in expansions of pre-existing export terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG)—one in Port Arthur, one in Lake Charles. See Ernst & Young LLP, 2014 US Investment Monitor: Tracking Mobile Capital Investments During 2013 (accessed August 4, 2015), http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-the-us-investment-monitor/$FILE/EY-the-us-investment-monitor.pdf.
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right Page 30