Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Why such low marks? Three reasons, the inspector general concluded: natural disasters, low funds, and “a culture in which the state agency is expected to protect industry.” As for lack of resources, funding for environmental protection had been cut in 2012 from a previous 3.5 percent of total yearly state funds to 2.2 percent. An alert auditor had also discovered that the state had accidentally “given back” about $13 million to oil and gas companies that it should have retained in taxes. As for the pro-industry “culture,” permitting was indeed relatively easy. According to the state’s own website, 89,787 permits to deposit waste or do anything that affected the environment were submitted between 1967 and July 2015. Of these, only sixty—or .07 percent—were denied.