If you think you’d like a novel about an industry that destroyed a state’s coastline and wetlands with impunity (while parking their fortunes in offshore bank accounts), then Hydrocarbon Hucksters is not for you.
If you like fiction about politicians who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on dirty campaign contributions, don’t bother reading this book. What Ernest Zebrowski and his niece, Mariah Zebrowski Leach, have written is not fantasy, not the product of fertile imaginations; it’s real.
If you already have high blood pressure you will not want to read about how ExxonMobil made $35 billion in profits in 2009 and filed a 24,000-page tax return showing it owed zero dollars in taxes.
You also probably would not want to know that Wall Street futures speculators, those suits who never owned so much as a gas can, are responsible for adding about 30 percent to the cost of a fill-up at the pump.
Inspired by the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent 4.9 million-gallon oil spill that devastated the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines, Hydrocarbon Hucksters: Lessons from Louisiana on Oil, Politics, and Environmental Justice (University Press of Mississippi, 193 pages) is a new book scheduled to hit the bookshelves in early 2014 which takes an unflinchingly critical look at the sordid relationship between Louisiana politicians and the oil industry and how the state’s environment has paid a heavy price for that illicit romance.
The Zebrowskis are certain to rankle more than a few power brokers in Baton Rouge and on the corporate boards of major oil companies like ExxonMobil, BP, Marathon, Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron.
Ernest Zebrowski of Baton Rouge, a former Southern University professor, collaborated with Ruston Ph.D. Judith Howard on the 2007 analytical study Category 5: The Story of Camille, Lessons Unlearned from America’s Most Violent Hurricane (University of Michigan Press, 304 pages) a book that was as gripping as it was informative.
This book is unique in that it takes on giant corporations and high-profile politicians like Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, and President Barrack Obama without favoring one political party over another.
It tells, for example, of how Congressman Jindal backed renewable energy until he lost his 2003 bid for the governorship because oil and gas was not behind his campaign and how he converted and knelt at the altar of fossil fuel, became the industry’s darling and won in his second try in 2007. Jindal even called President Obama’s attempt to impose a 60-day moratorium on drilling in the outer continental shelf after Deepwater a “second disaster” on a par with the devastation of the oil spill itself—something of a stretch, to be sure.
It tells how Mary Landrieu took thousands of dollars in oil and gas money and defied Obama even though the moratorium affected only 33 projects in the Gulf (not a single oil-producing well in the Gulf was ever shut down) and even though only a few hundred jobs were in danger of being lost despite the claim of a federal district judge in New Orleans who ruled against the moratorium with the claim that it could eliminate up to 150,000 jobs.
(That same judge, by the way, failed to disclose that he had significant energy investments—an apparent conflict of interest that should have resulted in his recusing himself.)
The Zebrowskis also debunk certain claims about the negative effects of Obama’s proposed six-month moratorium on new outer continental shelf drilling; the share tax secrets about oil companies that they would rather you did not know, and reveal how the state’s elected officials depend on oil money and obligingly reciprocate with oil-friendly regulations.
The Zebrowskis, backed by painstaking research, take you on a 183-page historic tour of the petroleum industry in Louisiana that will leave you shaking your head in wonder that a state so rich in oil and natural gas could rank so high in poverty, so low in education and so smarmy in its political leadership. Republicans and Democrats alike are subjected to critique in Hydrocarbon Hucksters. No one is spared the Zebrowskis’ critical examination. Once you read Hydrocarbon Hucksters, you will never feel the same again when you fill your gas tank—about oil companies, Wall Street, Congress, or the Louisiana Legislature.
But the Zebrowskis don’t stop with simply criticizing oil companies, Wall Street and politicians. They offer solutions, however improbable it may be that any of them will ever be implemented as long as oil money flows. Among those proposed solutions:
- Designate oil companies as public utilities, a step already taken in Canada and other countries, so as to regulate profits;
- Ban speculative profiteering by Wall Street futures traders;
- Require oil companies to restore the environment to its natural state;
- Revise the corporate tax codes;
- Get serious about the development of electric wind-powered, synthetic and hydrogen-based energy;
- Develop high-speed electric rail mass transit projects as an alternative to air travel;
- Expand recycling.
At least one of these, a high-speed rail line between New Orleans and Baton Rouge was already attempted but rejected by Gov. Bobby Jindal who spurned a federal grant to fund the project over the objections of Baton Rouge business leaders.
(Subsequent to the manuscript’s completion, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority filed suit against more than 100 oil and gas companies in an action that could run into the billions of dollars for restoration of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, a move that came under harsh criticism from Jindal.)
So long as oil money can continue to purchase politicians, there is little to no chance of any of the Zebrowskis’ recommendations ever becoming reality. Hydrocarbon Hucksters, however, is an eye-opening read that you should plan to purchase as a handy reference as soon as it hits the shelves next year.
Louisiana Voice 
I suspect I won’t be shocked when I read it, but it will be nice to have facts to back up what I have always thought and said to others.
Hi Tom!
I read this post and look forward to you editing my latest manuscript! Ah, Ha! Caught you, didn’t I? You thought I was gonna say … and look forward to buying me a copy as soon as it comes out. But really, it sounds very interesting. I hope it’s simple to follow and understand. Sounds like trouble in the wind.
Later,
Forest…………………………
________________________________
(Forest is the author of With Edwards in the Governor’s Mansion: From Angola to Free Man. Great story about the Edwards governor’s mansion as told by a mansion butler; can be purchased by clicking on image of book on LouisianaVoice main page.)
Mr. Aswell I can not wait to get my hands on this book. I can only imagine how difficult it was for the authors to obtain their information. There were probably roadblocks thrown up in front if them every step of there investigation and research.
Thanks for letting us know about this book and everything elese you keep us informed on.
Thank you Tom for another exciting revelation! I will certainly purchase a copy of Ernest Zebrowski’s HYDROCARBON HUCKSTERS. Ever since Huey Long, the oil and gas industry has been pitted in an adversarial role against the government of Louisiana and there is no doubt whatsoever who is winning what once was a struggle. Since government (Federal and State) cannot exact meaningful taxes from these “struggling enterprises,” I believe that we should quit trying to tax them at all and simply come at them with user fees for all of the state’s assets. Every time that an oil truck is on the road, it should pay more for using our roads. Every pipelined gallon of oil should pay a fee for being transported across state lands. All federal and state subsidies (which assume that the oil companies are barely profitable and struggling for existence) should be abolished and competition should be encouraged to help the eventual suppliers of our energy needs to stand up and compete with the energy giants. Oil and gas will continue to keep us going for a while to come (and we should be thankful that they have brought us where we are,) but the eventual end of oil and gas (which is sooner than many have grasped)demands our focus now to prepare for a time to come when derricks cannot any longer dot the landscape and the seascape and light the night skies.
I don’t think anybody who has noted that settlements like BP Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez are followed shortly by record profits will be shocked by this book and its revelations. What is shocking is that we accept this as something that cannot be changed. We don’t really care enough to even try. Diane Rehm has dealt with this on her program many times, but, despite an audience one would think cares about such things, rarely gets calls about it. The industry’s leaders are able to spout platitudes and double-talk with impunity even under intense questioning by Ms. Rehm. I guess it is human nature that the larger the problem, the more accepting we are it can’t be changed. So, the secret to being able to do whatever you want to do is to become so big nobody can take you on.
Butch, I generally agree with you but strongly disagree with you on this subject. Frankly there is not a single thing that I agree with Judith Howard about.
Sent from my iPhone
Reg, I’m not sure what point you’re making about Ms. Howard or why you went out of your way to single her out. She didn’t write this book; the Zebrowskis wrote it. As for your disagreeing with me, that is certainly your right and I respect that and believe it or not, I post all opposing comments because I don’t believe in censorship or denying anyone a voice. That said, I fail to see how anyone can defend a company that reaps $35 billion in profits and files a 24,000-page tax return (which no one at the IRS read) to reflect zero dollars owed in taxes. And I fail to see how anyone can support an industry (and I did not mention this in my review) that will come onto one’s property, install pumping and storage equipment and when the oil and/or gas is depleted, leave the tanks, pipes waste ponds and other equipment and not even make an effort to clean up the property. I suggest you read Shell Game by Lake Charles attorney J. Michael Veron to see (1) how the oil companies feel they can destroy private land with impunity and (2) how the state politicians (read: Mike Foster) came running to the aid of Shell Oil in this litigation.
Tom, you have hit another nail on the head, keep on keeping on with your research, cover ups and the consequences of the actions which take place because of incompetent legislatures who are too afraid to seek justice for the State. You can believe the majority are in it not for what is good they can do, but for what is in it for them and what they can pocket!!!
@Stephen Winham, you are spot on! When will the people rise up to claim, and take their state back?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_squeaky_wheel_gets_the_grease
Thank you so much for sharing the information about the upcoming book. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I wish something like this could become the One New Orleans book of the year.
Reblogged this on Mining Awareness Plus and commented:
From the above article: The book “tells for example, of how Congressman Jindal backed renewable energy until he lost his 2003 bid for the governorship because oil and gas was not behind his campaign and how he converted and knelt at the altar of fossil fuel, became the industry’s darling and won in his second try in 2007. Jindal even called President Obama’s attempt to impose a 60-day moratorium on drilling in the outer continental shelf after Deepwater a ‘second disaster’ on a par with the devastation of the oil spill itself—something of a stretch, to be sure.” The above point from the book- article is critically important in relation to the following: “On July 24, 2013, SLFPAE [Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority East], filed a historic lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, Chevron and 94 other oil, gas, and pipeline companies for their role in destroying Louisiana’s coast. [John] Barry was largely the architect of this suit, and has been the authority’s spokesperson on it. Governor Bobby Jindal immediately demanded SLFPAE withdraw the lawsuit. The board was created after Hurricane Katrina by a constitutional amendment which passed with 81% of the vote, and the board was insulated from politics because its members– unlike members of other levee boards in the state– cannot be removed by the governor without cause. But Barry’s term on the board expired, and Jindal did not reappoint him. The board continues to support the suit, and Barry continues to argue for it.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Barry See also: http://www.johnmbarry.com