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    Bond - Negative Ecologies, PP 1-68

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    godsaveatheists

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 38
    “The pe dhe Unvery ofClfona Pree Forde tel acknowl the gros PPO sth al and Sle Stale Endowment Pond St Eewoumenl Sl Negative Ecologies Fossil Fuels and the Discovery of the Environment David Bond B ‘Sak Cae set byD at arf agen Clog in tabi Di apes Ben De oe ate, ‘eRe loa kent tomy ite ene eget Un aig hey of aero ees Stage pa ea sagéc ba Miagrogtar rcs ta ATE nme pce Neth si! eg eran peas Ne hs Centon trots sus incor eo DOC ys siya dagengases Ct tate postgsey ttre me bapaminegrnse8 ‘To Wilkam and Meredith, forthe revolutions they bring Introduction ‘The Promise and Predicament of Crude Oil Crude oils the world's retest commodiy. Whether by measure fev ‘enue rade, or even mas sli, forthe past century rade cl ha clamed fn undisputed plce atop the pedestal of fst and foremost. Nothing ‘else comes close. Every core ofthe inhabited woe bear the practical impeneofcrade oi, t motorbikes, buses, ships and planes now gen cealze an easy mobility of people and things. The professional bung land selng of i whether a bare on futures, ute every other market transition, and private fortunes beyond the welt of many nations now ide on the fuctusting pie of oi. The staggering profits of ‘rue oil ave launched sect governments and corporations ito anew Searospher of inuence asthe vested interests of charter a shadow empite defining exactly wire the prerogatives of democracy, sore ‘nny and even war mist cease and desi For fans and ris lke, the _tuibutes ofthe commodity must ground any serious undesandng of ‘rade Only ocasonllys that ground sled by even that disrupt ‘the momentum of gin but these sates ar always exceptions ro the ‘ule The tal ory of crude oil begins and ends in the commealty form, “his book advances an inquiry inthe opposite diectin. Cade oll is the world’s greater disaster that only forthe bree of moments cohets in the commodity form. Destruction isthe norm; the con modi isthe event. Long apparent to resident of extractive frontiers {nd frontline communities che ascent ofthe ondary ia story of Aestretion ripping ever outward. This outlook, against a widening buckdtop of damaged life and planetary systems sipping into satay, isbecoming both more scintie and more comumonplace, Ing seat tnd dead zones, in cancer clusters and superstorms, i spacious histo Ses and foreclosed frures, the disasters of ere il routinely exceed any register of reasonable gun. While logis of accumaion buttress the busines of fori els nd remain negra to thee htory the cll la soil and earthly disrapions unleashed by such a business rosy ‘exceed the analyte of capa In stanted fret bstucted migratory routes asphyxiated ocean ayer, deformed animals, poisonous ground water and contorted elemental cycles, the negative ecologies of rude ol ‘outweigh ny accrl of profit or pow, on ul are destroying the world, Sie etnations ofthe i act our current consumption of erde oll shaving ouoace the mont Umaginative savas of apoclype: ent landkcpes sere ino ‘able superstars beyond ou ably to withstand wid inferno beyond ‘uray o extn roving coughs eime april land, la {es and permatrone awash in torent of mel, ding ofthe densely populated shoreline, er owune becoming ace beyond the window fof most marine if, and extinctions on a pa ith aeteor sie. As they have for seeraion the world’s poor wll eat the runt of thee Impact. Yr the impact camor be contsned within the given structures of inequality. What happen after the commodity now threatens the bio: chemical and meteorolgieal conditions of ie isle ‘Such desecton sts the stage upon which this bok proceeds, From leaky eefineris vo extractive frontiers to contaminated landscape hi 4 book describes the mania dates of crude ol Ye the central aim of 4 this boos es documenting such destruction than examining the ways {weve grown accustomed to condoning off thee cassalties as second _) my mater of concern, the way our apprehension of sch destucion presumes something already within our ability to remedy. Whether inthe enizonmenal monitoring actworks that encrle dling pads ‘or pecrochemicl plats or in the environmental planning documents that encae pipeline projects and dling lass, the datows proper tis ofthe ol industry are arly apprehended dry. Rather they are fine dsl int sec repesenttine robles each atomized threat thoroughly fenced off in administrated safeguard, engined moder Yin, and he fetng of well-managed rik. Togethe, thee protections pal select harms of the ol indusry ino separate ledger while tar Ing blind eye tothe wide elds of devastation underway. Tete pro sections can be quite effective at tempering desuction, and the deep “he Promise pd Pecamenf Crate OU | 9 invent in their format often ead many advocacy campaigns and proerts to ally hes complaints wich che official accoucing of harm Soch protection alo allow the seal properties ofthe clo ascend into the commody, sf weightless “The sundring of material arm fom material gain i a work ong sng, conceptual dsoluion that sul integrated inc the design fue sion and regulation of nary evry hydroarbon insallson worldwide, tiv abo fandamenal wo response eons when someshing goes wrong ‘This work ongoing fems the central fd ste ofthis book oth inthe “evita eis ofthe 19608 that fit cxtapated the catastrophe inact of fos us into public prominence inthe Une Sate andthe legislate surges thar then ranked those injuries as secondary to the ‘energy economy, and inthe contemporary inintonal Sly scenic orn and ethical tacts that work to restate this pernicious premise ‘ver and agin the reason of he commodiry encod the reac fda ‘sg ie Sach an oulok saturates the infaracrare fo where loss tay alin item within the ledge of pin Within exractve operations, fegultoey actions, acvit demand, and courtroom stlements, the ‘mages of i te offen obetied by Ra placing ter in subservient ‘elton to towering prot I as become conson sense. No ny i posible Beyond the market valation of re ol, no damage i cree [epond the ability of proto compensate node plausibebeyond the technical capacity ofthe nda to contain ite pea In the busting busines of i addition are always gente than subtractions. “The opposite equation ban the landscapes and velhoods injured by oi The lament of those living ear ding itso eines or pie line projects top p he profesional taming of isk and pedigreed hie hes of prof and los. Privileping such dase enabes ethnography to explore the tremendous categorical labor and scientific infastue- tore required 1 render the open-ended assault ofthe ol industey as ft setofdseot and ordinary technical challenges s something Pe ‘erally provincial othe tremendous wealth pouring forth. Jagged 2nd Soveteed a they are these jeemiads form the methodological and the- ‘retical opening of this book. Such an orientation finds sold anthro- Pological anchor in che righteous outage of frontline communities bret by aepyaating refinery emissions of farmers realizing a neazby petochemial plat has contaminated soil and growndwater tended for generations of wibrine hunting and Sing communities sudealy severed from natural abundance by the poisonous rent rom ol dil ing sts of factory town leaning the ercnogene reside of plastics a ul td slag Ta Ala ln. za by ace, manufacturing has besa in the public drinking water fr decades, of coastal commas devasaed by ol pil and encoaching sea, and of residents reckoning with how the ox fllout of fos uli sale Sng the comer ofthis earth they know bet. Centering sach outage, his book refs the prevaling premise thatthe ecologl fallout ofthe oll industry is emily contained within the imperial lope of profs, that the destruction unleashed by oll extraction ening, and combustion {slays aleady dalodged fom and deferential to is fal promise. “Agana pervading loge of pov supe, this book revolves around the negative exes of the ol industry. With a commitnen 1 pact cal justice throughout, thi bok asks what comes into vew when You ‘low fo injury heyond immediate remedy? What revolsonary all. nce of since and peotat tin the centering of material Bede of ‘evasion that exceed any offal accounting? ‘Kael Mara ace elle the eammodiy the fs “ckizen ofthe wos" 1 ploncer in its ably to chart woeld wahout borders. The rise of the Commodity disciplined the word ino shared casonaiy of exchange, ‘offered metaphysical endorsement of the upurg in inequsli, and in fence of toxic. They carry 2 “body bigness,” as Christopher Sellers (999: 58) ha pu Thresholds bil up an infestractre of concer that displaces the "boy archive" of lived toxic exposures in favor of abstract and drete deviations from implement acres (Brown 2016: 46). Thi not only sidestep te cllding ecologies of toscey ‘hat asl eran neighborhoods and eran landscapes alto mean ‘he envionment, by design i unable to rept the istorclnlecions of clas, tao and gender often weapped up in the toxic problems it urpors ro addres. Impact assessments compel he fealty fife into decision-making. Incodcing the conditions of life to decision-making has Been hugely influetia, yet impact assessments often work in unexpected ways To ‘he froeaton of many cen who participate in envionment impact sessment voiced concersarenotakintovosingona poeta projet ‘While evironmencalimpsc artesament metings can provide a micro™ phone for lived and livid concern, ll 00 requey they do s only to deny thoe voices any means of amphifing themselves into a more ‘uansformatie poles. They dont so much ree eitque as exhaust it How? Fin off mpact arsesements acknowledge detrimental impr, ‘only to co-op them. By claiming the perspective of potential har, ei= ronmental impact assesment internalize what had previouly been 3 ‘exten positon of ergo. Crtigue drained ofthe capacity to con- front extractive projects nstend dead int an amp posson ia ‘the very design end operation of those extractions. This process often marked by an engineering hubris tht believes every potential space ‘an be mitigated snd managed with the ight combination of planing tnd technology Environmental impact asesmet the, maybe one of the ethics stances that enliven contemporary capitalism, a suggested by Boltanaki and Chiapello (2007). Second, impact assets map the limits of legibility (Checker 3007). As Andrew Barry (203) has show by making the prea impact of project visble, environmen” talimpactateaments "pack oat —howeter peavsonally—dhe mis of [of company socal and exvizonmental responsibility (29). Falls impctameasents ef theparicalary of place, not thsaugh Kitty tr ethnography bur in abtact elation to the foorpin of a poet. Eire impact asec extrac the enmmet jut bloc dis ruption and project ia an auhortative dfn of normal He. Sach ‘kliiions erase chronologies of change, coming ialeble measures thar dictate the legacy of subsequent discontent and elfering. As “he hime and Pecans of Cade | 9 have writen elsewhere with Luis Beste, sch work “narrows the scat of leptimate concern and widens the scope of scoepable dire= std” [Bessie Bond 20142447) Toe thresholds and impact assessments are not news scenic innovations. The historical developmen ofboth toxic thvesolds and impact assessments is deeply ted up withthe ol indus. In vatous sways cach was developed intechnocratic effort to ein inthe dsteue- tive reach of fos fels without disrupting their probly. Toxic thresholds and impact essessments can be ruthlessly proficient, and instantiations ofthe environment along thes ins have ben este merlin not only authoring emily new felds of science and lw but also saving ives and redocing pollution worldwide. Yt the res ing definition ofthe environment has often ben effective to the extent thaciesdeseps the undeying ease ofthe problem—the oi indstry— and focuses ateation instead on stabiliing the mediums of expose Sand reifying the moral boundariee of thee operations, In v0 doing, ‘thresholds and impact esesments cleave mates of harm fom mater ‘of gain. Managing the degenecative effects of fossil fuels becomes an autonomous eld of research and regulation, a separate and secondary mater of concer. Toxic thresholds and impact asessments alo do crucial normative ‘work, Thresholds and aeessments establish the normative criteria for vironmental critique in since, lav, and advocacy. Bu hee wide spread agrecment onthe nocmative bse ofetgue doesnot open up the posi of a more transformative polis, it forecoss it conta Habermas). Displaing 2 pltis of eonffonation, toxic cheshods and pact asesmens push effective acion int the realm of tandardiaed methods, certified results, acceptable level, and codified assessment ‘models Quietly orienting the state's forcefl considerations as well as its avered gazes, thesblds and impact assessments hav Become vital normative technologies within contemporary politi, Instancting the ofcialdefiton of deferdable life, such scenic and legal norms sho inte a technic! limit to democratic practice around fos fuels Overridng any popular conseasus about the source of harm and ‘what might be done the pimary lever of sate station instead sis to cuted deviations from the norm, The eniroumet hee, Ce into historial and ethnographic focus not asthe answer 0 the eis fife engendered by fons fe but aa way of goerning thereat Ing contradictions. Is no coincidence that the is ofthe envionment ‘miro the unbound consomprion of fos ets in the United States 2 1 nau [An its no coincidence thatthe envionment hasnt 0 much checked ‘ur addition o foal falas provided acceptable parameters for that ‘dition to deepen a4 expand. Iwas somewhere along the Gulf Coast a he height ofthe BP cl sill in toro that itis struck me, te temendous dissonance beeen how the state spoke about the disaster and how the residents experienced it Twas following a caravan of federal oficial as they deove from city 0 city Each evening the ame information booths would be setup in i= ferent highschool gymnasiums and the same PowerPoint presentation would explain he deepwater blowout toa new coastal eomumusity and how it impact was already being revolved. Afterward, when asked if they had any questions, residents would nd their way to the micro phone and talk about how the ot pill war aching ino thee Boies, Stalng what lise stably they had oil up, and upending thei ives. Stat officials never gute knew how to respond They would thank res dents for sharing bore ceiteating plans foe various sais of marine lif, milions of dollars in wetland restoration, and new pubic acess points othe shoreline. Almost anforml these plans hed nothing todo ‘with how residents experienced the disaster For state oficial the ot {Spill ava reasonable problem ited to envionment governance, {Pmomentary rupture easly amended by dipping into the pereaial fortunes of the industry. And for those who kaew the script and ow to plac their own agendas within tthe ol spill proved quite she boon. For maay reidents, howeves theo spill weeted pas the ees of eh nical ean, Thei tagged expenences efased she instruments of eas bility opening a wound that reached past availble measaes of injury sind recompense. In thee encounters, the promise of faced progress ‘that underlies 0 mich ofthe contemporary word elo the way as the balanced azchitectre of profit and loss came undone. ve witesed variations Of thi scene all across North American polished industry camps for environmental tewardship in off Shore developments along the Gulf Coat and inthe museum of tar sands of Alberta in routine impact assesment meting in midwestem toven long the Keystone XL sote and in Alkan villages adjacent 0 ‘wld efges opened for dling, and in angry information sessions shout the risks of ving nea efineris inthe Carbean or plastics factories in New Bagland now srucated with petrochemicals. Again The Pome nd Pecan of Cre OS) | 1 and again the encounters peated: company cepresenttives ad state ‘cil deserbe the problem fil ay within te enaneed en fonmental capacities ofthe industry and the state, wlle nearby res tens voice a destruction pling life away from any racial erteion| of contol Thi ethnographic dsonance forms the theoretical stance oF thi book Sach faught scenes are far rom novel, nd highlighting thei longer history i ply ad scolathip forms a key par ofthis nq. Yet in contemporary scholarship, the dastrovs rach ofthe ol indy ‘often uaderstod in one of to ways: hy ether taking up the outlook Sf the tate asthe normative base of justice or anchoring cig to = ‘onceptal horizon beyond present destvton,Envionmental justice “eholarship ten works to bend the jasng scenes described here into fei legibility, while ontological scholarship often strives to mae fly Inhabic the theorsal redemption of sich inbaemonious snes. Both sit resol the dissonance of peto- destruction, one through urd ‘eats andthe other though eoneeptal means, Tete ate many mcs to both approaches: the former ide an effective moral and egal ese sgsasthe les, wile the laner eft new tol of il renewal not alteady complicit in the ransacking ofthe planet Envconmental justice scholaesip advance eal change within te eytem,belping pall, Tong standing injure into irefitale claims for stately tesogsiion| and desperately needed compensation. Oncological approaches efate the sytem ently, aed by leating aerate prounds for tory sich appcoaches can elp zeae the posible of « world beyond poi and power ino being. And whl ec headed cro insight the schol aly eque ofthe ol industry, ether seems sufcent tothe riible ‘of now: Environmental utc scholarship struggles to cont the con cepual architecture of prof and loss that underlie the ol economy, ‘hile ontological scholarship struggles to advance practical justice in the present ene ‘Rather than immediatly tying ro esave the material ncongriy ‘of ern ol ths book stays close to it The dissonance baween the promise of oil and its ecological unrest i i ie immensely ener fe for environmental science and policy no es than for ethnography. Scholarship that too quickly moves to revolve sich disonanc ea ie the governing institutions, analytical technologies, nd corporate nee iments working inthe same dizecion. Theceially pausing in scenes of dswonance brings ths ordering work ofthe envionment into stark ‘ethnographic Foes Centering this book on the disastrous excesses of the oil indus try displaces the commodity a8 ts definitive form and opens up new round for ethnogzapbiceigue Focegrounding the negative ecologies [Of erude oil and the social disonance around them provncalizes the ‘verheasng logic of gain without ever leaving the scene of is vie It provides away 10 eth innocently inhabit no wholly refuse te off {al aecounting of harm but instead actend othe remendous epistemic tnd infrastracoral labor involved in disciplining broke worlds nto Sach accounting, aswell a sein what does ot add up. Eehnograpic tention to negative ecologies ls not a form of theoretical despair Sind even esa eal for politic cexignation nthe face of overwhelm ing destruction. Negative ecologies browght me close othe battered ‘world stand wih an aim 1o do something about i. Eéhnographic Teetion to negative ecologies allowed me tose close up al ofthe ‘inti work being done to reorder the world without ether taking tp the teleology ofthat work or refusing ts signicance entirely. The bordeslinds benween mastery and destruction ate prolific for regula: tory scence no es than for pol refusal. Not oly are the meetie ‘Gologies of erode ol at he forefront of innovations in environmental ‘Scene and pole, bu theis growing recognition leads many fomtine ‘Communities to ese ofles of managed rik an instead stand more fowcefuly against the o industry tl Allowing destracton to reach beyond reason ofthe commodity this book joins with these protest ro svancea cigue imag to dmatle the ol ecomomy from within the Conceptual grounds of is operations while also advancing the urgent {ans of hore injured by ie From extractive roars in Canada to enteep refineries inthe ‘Caribbean from ol spills tothe tore fallot of plas manufacong, these chapters describe the sient and ethical work thai dispin- ing there world nt the legibly of the envionment as well x how nearby commits ome to ine within and against toxic thresbolds fd impact sessment, Each ofthese communities is more than an intellectual curiosity. At each was draen ito the tug of nearby residents againt foul fol, sometimes voluaeering my time with visting organizations and sometimes playing a more active role in {actcal purus of justice Some ofthese sts were visited for short, evods others involved extended eldwork. One ofthe sites is my cu Fent home, where petochemical carcinogens were discovered have ‘wtensively contaminated the regon’ soll and groundwater in 2016, inciaing my own backyard “he rami ond Pane of Cae O13 ‘The theotetcal ae ofthis book fat ok shape in ey growing charpy othe operational gio the ernment Salking with hve ving onthe detacve dgrs of he ol ede and with hone sete and gnc ated with maging sch ones, Team stent rote way which the terms and eco of th exvronmen piled stocking har it the foo aval rb lem, enoothed ou he jaring edges of angry reset and wounded Iansepe and mesared what sere to ey meaereen hie carding what cdo) nse ofthese engagement fund my ined wi the evionmene,denanding wes elo beter impact semen arging nth embodied fact or ern ina ing the urease procedures ofthe caveat with the hopes of ig enlarging ther echt other engagement found pe ‘eng the logs of thsols and impact samen, demanding ‘eognton oft Kat Brown (on 46 ll the“boiyace® Sfmt nd ay eng te iio ii of aviroumer This bok ay ways ater ather ogee ier epeenes refer more deaty on wi werk tev does how cnn oer sch indacce ort and how we gh {elim i founding pop hile sein more compli fos: Tis hyn move pop am in whch one ra ad impct aneunents ftv cordon ff the daeous pope {sof ol fal cae in wh the near elope: of crude ll verwhei tresols and aenment ues aerate erie fd pola stranger Enironmont “The environment oe em fatto cay fa 00 obligato ad far too foodooe a concept to waren seo attention nthe ssh 0 Bove pas the environmen, ew have atended to the hatry of he oncrpt Ts caper rings new tention to ths elected oy I {he late 1960 and ex 970m the environmen shied fam ane ‘ite shorhand fo te inftaeer of contest othe ree digo af 4 shin ew woof ced pray vite aed roe emiromonens mado abies manne main o inghrge) While he resulting ecogion of the environment angel conaed of bringing existing proens totes ter one umbrella facry Pollan, urban senge, dose fallout, atomeble emission, 14 1 eodaion tage dos and ven lol waming—the reign was Fer Avs forthe eng of ie he envionment ime an nn vo drt oie He nd teking ep Gor eT nrocory chapter aces 99 tchmgu ht wort inca the even tae hess tad mpaceameosnens In diferent may ech espods othe dine Tom ately fe and exc econ ying the ie fous rer of bydrourton into» ind of fd Iaboratory for the Standard mesucmen and rngemen fendered Tose {hrcols wee and nh Unie State sound he emissions ‘f igdocetoncombarion ad perry provide a novel meas of Sng miso up tothe eat port of arm. placing tos to cxpand enviznmentl gh pac sucaments need rouge ‘Sac wcon so sable cons oie, By many a8 the fo el inf othe et henley impact ‘Deanment, Ql ereting he wt fel connidrations at well i's evened puch threads and pact scents Became both 1 objec of coteporry ols si a tecclii emo {itu peice My etch oir ory sles nied poe hana pela tle obs away he acceded noes clamoring un he fin laments of onan, Hee imo provide hoch deeper srl and here creeps to compli Such ork me simed a peting any fom the rv bt at poi ingewewnaies or ethnography come nr the clo clams ofeow Governing Disaster (One ofthe hardest things abou studying the largest olspilin US history ‘va Finding it On the round the BP ol pl was ot always obvious. ‘ersion crew Tmet hd ben onthe Gulf Coast for days loking forthe tisater ll they found were ta alls and anecdotes noting pectacla “Whereis the spl?” they asked me This chaper describes how scien sits and federal official seamed to bring the unprecedented proper- ties of thi sprawling deepwater Blowout ito avalytial and regulatory focus, Embedded n university laboratories and emergency response tearm inchaper 2 excribe how the BP il pl went oma spring ‘net ino a manapesle problem by fis ansforming the ocean into 3 Sort of scat Iboratory. For marine scents who responded to this Tee Pronseand Pct f Cae il | 1s unprecedented deepwater blowout, making sense ofthe disse rested “on ist stabilizing am aie Bed of ings crivng nove analy tecbrgucsand then caltating new ethos of scenic objectivity der ‘Sues: The disaster didnot begin at early defined event became ‘one through this tremendous labor of scence and ecology For one, techniques of measuring the ol spill insisted «new anderanding of the baseline conditions of if in the Gall of Mexico and posed new ‘gestions abou ou political, seem, and ethical lationship o that Taselin. That i to sy, che oil spill materialized a new version ofthe ‘environment itself Here, the newly coordinated environment not ony ‘objected the ol spl, also quicly deed what knowledge ofthe ‘ats and what relations ot could have cei. The envconent fully coated the disse insulating te biological each of thio pil from human consdeavion and zendering personal acount of skeet ‘plausible and legible. Techniques of sequeserng and inspecting te clspl came to uaderweitea new seine of dconnecion between the ‘dar andthe public Bahia Ost (One ofthe more remarkable things about the ta sands in Alberta i ‘how upfront oil companies are abour thee impact othe lndscape (Oa local billboards and in ineviews, ear sands operator epee acknowledge tha they are going to destoy the place. Alter al ey 53, this isthe eal cost of energy toda.” Such ackaowledgment howeve, ‘quickly pivot toward the huge investments Ue industry i aking at ability to put ial back roger again. With estoration projects that, strive ojoin thebestof envionment science and the most wadionl Indigenous way fife, i companies proudly tut thee unique aby to engineer a more culturally informed boreal ors, build « more cosmologially atuned ecosystem. Drawing on ethaopraphic research fon corporate socal responsibly inthe tar sands of Alberts, chapter 3

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