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VI. Conclusion
EPA Toxics Release Inventory data reveal that Texas leads the nation in the release of toxic chemicals and carcinogens into the environment. Corporate members of a single trade group-the Texas Chemical Council-are responsible for a staggering 74 percent (187 million pounds) of Texas’ on site toxic emissions.U.S. representative democracy is based on a simple political idea: One person, one vote. Texas, however, imposes absolutely no limits on the amount of money that an individual or PAC can contribute to candidates running for an executive or legislative office. For this reason, the 71-year-old woman who gets bowled over on her lawn by clouds of toxic chemicals from the chemical factory across the street does not share an equal voice with that factory’s owner.
To preserve a regulatory climate that is soft on big polluters, political action committees (PACs) affiliated with the Chemical Council and its member companies contribute heavily to Texas legislators and statewide elected officials. From 1995 through 1998, current incumbents of these offices took more than $1 million from these toxic special interests. Politicians who took this money repeatedly advanced the Chemical Council’s political agenda at the expense of the environment that must sustain all Texans.
Historically, the industry’s response to such concerns has boiled down to three arguments: jobs, jobs, jobs. As with toxic chemicals, however, all jobs are not created equal. Some jobs take a greater toll on public health and the environment than others. With Texas’ unemployment rate hovering around 4.5 percent, state policymakers should debate the full social benefits-and costs-of different industries and jobs. But the background noise of more than $1 million in political contributions and more than $4 million in lobby expenditures allows the special interests of the very few to hold hostage the interests of the many. This debate successfully prevents such a policy debate from even occurring.
At the national level, the EPA has tabulated some interesting comparative data on the 20 industry categories that report toxic emissions. These data reveal not only how much toxic pollution each industry generates, but also how many jobs and how much economic value each industry generates. Compared to most other industries, the chemical industry and the petroleum industry are comparatively filthy ways to generate economic value or jobs.
Nationally, the chemical industry accounts for 46 percent of all the toxic production-related waste of the 20 industries, but accounts for just 10 percent of the total value created by these industries and just 5 percent of their overall employment. The petroleum industry accounts for 10 percent of all toxic waste, but just 5 percent of all the value created by all 20 industries and 0.6 percent of the total employment. Many other industries do a much better job of producing jobs and economic value without such an extreme environmental impact. Political expenditures go a long way toward explaining why Texas policymakers rarely discuss these kinds of cost-benefit considerations and why Texas is still No. 1 in the emission of toxins and carcinogens. Candidates who do not take big polluter contributions face the risk of being defeated by special-interest money.
Source: "1996 Toxics Release Inventory Public Data Release," U.S. EPA, March 1999, p.165
Petrochemicals Are A Relatively Dirty Source Of Money and Jobs in the U.S. Industry TRI Production- Related Waste (PRW) Employees Chemicals Primary Metals Petroleum Paper Fabricated Metals Electrical Equip. Stone/Clay/Glass Food Plastics Transpo. Equip. Printing Tobacco Machinery Lumber Furniture Measure./Photo. Miscellaneous Textiles Apparel Leather
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