Energy Metropolis: An Environmental History of Houston and the Gulf Coast (review)

2??8Book Reviews95 there is not much in the historical record, only budget approvals, but where are the voices of history department faculty, deans, and presidents of die university? Did they think at all about the significance ofTexas history at the leading institution of higher learning in a state crazed about its history? Was there a shift in attitude somewhere along the line? This means that McCaslin, who knows more about the Texas State Historical Association than anyone else, will need to provide another chapter—perhaps , a journal article—several years from now after the dust has settled and there is clarity. Most historical societies have depended upon outside private or public institutional support. McCaslin will need to describe and evaluate the transition of the TSHA to independence after a century of success with the University ofTexas. It will be an important piece of our history for him to write. Colorado State University, EmeritusDavid G. McComb Energy Metropolis: An Environmental History ofHouston and the Gulf Coast. Edited by Martin V. Meiosi and Joseph A. Pratt. (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007. Pp. 352. Illustrations, maps, figures, notes, index. ISBN 9780822943358. $60.00, cloth. ISBN 9780822959632. $27.95, paper.) Houston is a sprawling city along the Gulf Coast that has enjoyed remarkable economic growth and suffered nightmarish and seemingly unsolvable environmental problems. From chemical and petroleum pollution of groundwater and soil to the steady sueam of ozone alerts in the summer, Houston's economic success is tarnished by its environmental problems. Urban environmental historian Martin V. Meiosi and business history professorJoseph A. Pratt, both of the University of Houston, have organized and edited an effective collection that explains the basis of the city's great wealth and growth as well as the resulting environmental issues. This collection provides a historical background of the growth of the city and its economy and relationship of the Gulf Coast to this "energy metropolis." Pratt leads off the collection, explaining the rise of the Houston economy and the explosive growth that accompanied the petroleum and petrochemical industries . He demonstrates that there was a continuing tension between business and government as profits dramatically increased, benefiting the city economically while creating long-term problems due to increased pollution. The regulatory response of die government to these problems and the efforts of business to forestall this oversight and protect their economic interests say much about American capitalism as well as Houston's history. While the tension and negotiation between government oversight and regulation and business profits and pollution is one of the critical topics of this collection , Kimberly A. Youngblood's examination of the environmental protest in Friendswood at the Brio Superfund site demonstrates the necessity of citizen and media oversight of government regulatory and oversight agencies. This essay as well as others by well-known environmental justice activist and scholar g6Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJuly Robert Bullard and by environmental historian Elizabeth Blum demonstrates die mobilization of African-Americans and others in response to discriminatory polluting. Other essays examine the relationship between Houston and Galveston, showing each city's rise and decline, deforestation with the explosive growth of suburbs as well as the creation of the infrastructure designed to support such rapid and unmanaged growth. These are generally well written and effectively researched. While some charts, maps, and images are used effectively, they are distributed unevenly in the collection. The audience of this book will likely include readers who do not reside in Houston or the surrounding area, so more maps and images would have been useful. Ending with articles focused on environmental protest efforts is certainly appropriate, but the collection would have been strengthened with a final essay examining the power emerging from this city. To what extent has the political economy of Houston, with its focus on resource extraction with maximum profits at any cost and strong resistance to government regulation, extended itself into national politics? Maybe a collection tided Energy Metropolis has some responsibility to show not only how wealth is created and the environment polluted but also the degree to which those who have profited from this great wealdi have extended their worldview into die national economy and federal government. Energy Metropolis is required reading...