ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how coastal Louisiana was transformed from a region of refuge into an energy sacrifice zone that risks setting the stage for future disasters. It shows that government actions—from colonization to the present days reflect a privatization paradigm that inevitably leads to energy sacrifice zones. Tribal members from Pointe-au-Chien and Isle de Jean Charles gathered in a circle around the fire. Outside the circle a couple of male tribal members softly beat the drum, as Chief Albert entered the middle of the circle. In a complex web of colonialism, political status, and racial structures, structuring society bi-racially forced a wedge between Indians and Blacks in the southern United States, including Louisiana. The tribal residents, including those who intermixed with the Cajuns, established settlements in the previously uninhabited southern ends of the bayous. The oil and gas industry/government relationship that has helped produce the decimation of coastal Louisiana is reflected in several decades of policy and regulation.
