Anthony E. Ladd

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, SWINE PRODUCTION AND FARM LOSS IN NORTH CAROLINA

Since the early 1990s, North Carolina has been the fastest growing swine-producing state in the country and the leading innovator in vertically integrated, industrially structured hog farming. Although the growth and concentration of swine production has been associated with a host of negative social and environmental impacts on the states air, land, and waterways, environmental justice and farm loss concerns have played a particularly key role in the evolution of the controversy in North Carolina. Using multivariate analysis of statewide census and agricultural data, we identified the county-level sociodemographic characteristics associated with farm loss between 1982 and 1997. We found that recent patterns of farm loss were more pronounced in Black communities, regardless of income, and low-income communities, regardless of race. Furthermore, counties that had greater hog industry growth in the early 1980s and had large hog populations by 1992 have suffered greater farm loss since the early 1980s than counties where the hog industry growth did not intensify until more recently. The implications of these findings with reference to an expanded environmental justice framework regarding the discriminatory impacts of swine facilities on minority and low-income rural communities are discussed.Since the early 1990s, North Carolina has been the fastest growing swine-producing state in the country and the leading innovator in vertically integrated, industrially structured hog farming. Although the growth and concentration of swine production has been associated with a host of negative social and environmental impacts on the states air, land, and waterways, environmental justice and farm loss concerns have played a particularly key role in the evolution of the controversy in North Carolina. Using multivariate analysis of statewide census and agricultural data, we identified the county-level sociodemographic characteristics associated with farm loss between 1982 and 1997. We found that recent patterns of farm loss were more pronounced in Black communities, regardless of income, and low-income communities, regardless of race. Furthermore, counties that had greater hog industry growth in the early 1980s and had large hog populations by 1992 have suffered greater farm loss since the early 1980s than c...

Environmental Disputes and Opportunity-Threat Impacts Surrounding Natural Gas Fracking in Louisiana

Despite the increasing socioenvironmental controversy over the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology in unconventional natural gas development (i.e., fracking), few sociological studies have used citizen interview narratives to examine attitudes toward shale fracking at the local level. Drawing on sociological research, discursive documents, and in-depth interview data collected from regional stakeholder groups/citizens, this article offers a qualitative analysis of the environmental disputes and opportunity-threat impacts perceived to surround natural gas exploration and hydraulic fracking in the Haynesville Shale region of Louisiana. The narratives reveal that the fracking dispute largely revolves around divergent diagnostic and prognostic beliefs about shale gas development, as well as whether the perceived economic opportunities of development outweigh the alleged socioenvironmental risks to the Haynesville community. Some conclusions about the utility of qualitative research for the study of environmental controversies like fracking, as well as the potential future direction of the growing national debate over shale gas and oil extraction, are discussed.

Pandora’s Well Hubris, Deregulation, Fossil Fuels, and the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf

The BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico—the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history—represents far more than an oil rig “accident” caused by human error, mechanical failure, or poor engineering decisions driven by an industry mantra of “Drill, Baby, Drill!” At its roots are deeper questions about corporate power, corruption, and accountability; technological risk; government deregulation; fossil fuel dependence; and the inability of most Americans to envision a shift to a clean and renewable energy future. In this article and commentary, the author draws on various media accounts and disaster studies to trace some of the key events leading up to the catastrophe, as well as its preliminary and evolving impacts. The author then offers some critical observations about our ability to prevent future energy-driven disasters in an era marked by corporate power; congressional timidity; and the control that the fossil fuel industry exercises over our economy, culture, and energy policy. As with the 9/11 tragedy a decade ago, the BP blowout represents yet another national wake-up call for the United States to heed the disaster lessons of the last 40 years, reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, and begin the transition to a sustainable energy economy.

The solid waste crisis and support for recycling: A research note

The American waste stream is quickly reaching crisis proportions. According to Environmental Protection Agency estimates, municipal solid waste has increased 80% since 1960 and will increase another 20% in the next 10 years. Despite the sociopolitical and ecological importance of the solid waste crisis, little research exists examining public opinion and behavior toward this issue. Using survey data from a study of 290 residents in St. Tammany parish, Louisiana, this article examines attitudes regarding the parishs own impending solid waste crisis and its level of support for various recycling and source reduction programs. As suggested by recent national polls, residents show an increasing concern about waste‐disposal issues and a willingness to support initiatives that reduce the waste stream. Some political and ecological implications of these data for future research are suggested.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: The Continuing Hegemony of Fossil Fuels and Hydraulic Fracking in the Third Carbon Era

Since the oil embargos of the 1970s, the fossil fuel industry and allied energy interests have helped manufacture a variety of discursive narratives that an alternative energy revolution is on the horizon which will someday replace conventional fuels with clean, renewable, noncarbonized sources of energy. A closer inspection of the industry’s investments and rhetoric, however, suggests that they are currently investing most of their historic profits in creating a future largely driven by unconventional fossil fuel dependence, intensive hydraulic fracking, and the continued control of the energy sector by essentially the same transnational corporations that control the market today. This article offers a critical analysis of the historical roots of our fossil fuel dependency, some of the key socioenvironmental threats associated with the emerging Third Carbon Era, and the myriad dangers associated with a future based on unconventional energy development, hydraulic fracking, and other “extreme energy” technologies. Focusing on the growing social and ecological impacts of natural gas fracking as a case in point, particularly its myth as a “bridge fuel” to a clean energy future, it is argued that these energy trends represent yet another “New Species of Trouble” in the Risk Society of late modernity.

Feedlots of the Sea: Movement Frames and Activist Claims in the Protest over Salmon Farming in the Pacific Northwest

In the face of declining oceanic fisheries throughout the world, industrial aquaculture and corporate fish farming have become the fastest growing sector of the global food industry, accounting for nearly half of all the fish and shellfish consumed by humans today. Despite its contribution to food production, however, the rapid growth of aquaculture has launched an anti-fish farming movement composed of scientists, environmental NGOs, fishers, native peoples, and coastal residents who oppose the industrys negative socio-environmental effects on marine habitats, indigenous fish stocks and cultures, as well as commercial and recreational fisheries. This article examines the growing environmental controversy over the collapse of wild salmon populations and the rise of salmon farming production in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the negative impacts of the aquaculture industry on the region. Drawing on movement literature and documents, as well as interviews with local stakeholder activists in Washington State and British Columbia, I provide a qualitative analysis of the collective action frames of the anti-salmon farming movement and the degree to which the diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational frames identified in movement discourse are aligned with the individual frames of movement activists. I conclude with some sociological implications of these findings for the usefulness of frame analysis research, the dynamics of the protest over salmon farming, and the future direction of ocean aquaculture and wild salmon.

POST-KATRINA GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Sociological Spectrum Mid-South Sociological Association Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713666965 POST-KATRINA GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH Duane A. Gill a; Lee Clarke b; Maurie J. Cohen c; Liesel A. Ritchie d; Anthony E. Ladd e; Stephen Meinhold f; Brent K. Marshall g a Mississippi State University, b Rutgers University, c New Jersey Institute of Technology, d University of Colorado, e Loyola University New Orleans, f University of North Carolina Wilmington, g University of Central Florida,