Globalization and Local Change

Abstract

The theoretical analysis of Chapter 3 mentioned nature as something that is crucially affected both by the economy and by policy. But what the ‘something’ is, why and how it is being ruined, and how it relates to human beings, have hitherto remained inadequately discussed. This chapter describes the processes that affect the environment and how these make the identified contradiction between nature and society more explicit. We discuss the transformation of Houston into a world city as part of a general trend taking place in other developed countries. The focus in Houston has been on the rise of the profitable, but highly contaminating, oil industry in the region. The petrochemical and other related businesses have played crucial roles in the growth of the city and its involvement in the global energy business. They have ensured that Houston has fulfilled specific functions for the international economy, irrespective of any ecological or human cost. The extent to which residents have benefited or, conversely, suffered from local and global directions in the economy, is difficult to assess. This chapter evaluates what for decades has been accepted as causing only benefits — economic growth.