Polluter-Industrial Complex Power

Combined Development

Combined Development

Merging advanced technology with low-paid, disciplined labor

Neoliberalism

Political assault on regulatory responsibilities and capacities of the state by powerful corporate polluters

Push Factors

Forcing capital out of a region due to social, political, economic, and environmental conditions

Pull Factors

Conditions attracting capital into a region, positively affecting capital and profits

Cost of Labor-Power

Includes benefits, individual, and social wages

Labor Discipline

Involves unions, labor productivity, and militancy

Labor Skills and Education Levels

Differentiates between unskilled, semi-skilled, or skilled labor

Occupational Health and Safety

Refers to the level of regulation around worker safety

Supplies and Costs of Natural Resources

Availability and affordability influencing investment decisions

Costs of Environmental Policy

Expenses associated with complying or not complying with environmental regulations

Ecological Degradation & Crises

Environmental degradation or crises affecting capital and profits

Anthropogenic Climate Change

Human-caused climate change leading to planetary emergency

Neoliberal Capitalist Development

Increasing social and ecological impoverishment, rendering masses more vulnerable to climate change

Externality Theory

Corporations externalizing environmental costs onto the public rather than investing in environmental protection

Negative Externalities

Corporations externalizing environmental costs onto the public rather than investing in environmental protection

Class Power and Externalities

Revealing power dynamics among the state, capital, and the people in capitalist production

Economic Efficiency vs Political Expediency

Strategies based on available technologies, commodity type, and cost vs. social opposition

Geographic Displacement

Relocating negative externalities to another geographic location to overcome political opposition

Temporal Displacement

Evasion of social opposition by displacing externalities to manifest in the distant future

Demographic Displacement

Targeting communities with less political-economic power or control capacity to avoid opposition

Jurisdictional Displacement

Locating offending facilities in jurisdictions separate from the impacted population

Observer Avoidance Displacement

Displacing externalities in ways that render them invisible

Regulatory Avoidance Displacement

Shifting to alternative strategies not yet regulated when facing regulation

Commodity Displacement

Transforming an externality into a commodity sellable in the market

Dilution/Dispersion Displacement

Permitting the release of toxic chemicals and pollutants into the environment at 'acceptable levels'

Greenwashing

Misleading consumers regarding environmental practices or benefits of a company or product

Seven Sins Of Greenwashing

Misleading claims including hidden trade-offs, no proof, vague claims, irrelevance, lesser of two evils, lies or fibs, and fake labels

Pinkwashing

Claiming to care about breast cancer while manufacturing products linked to the disease

Polluter-Industrial Complex

Organizational infrastructure discrediting environmental movement and dismantling state programs for environmental justice

Uneven Development

Historically produced spatial disparities in industry, banking, wealth, labor relations, and political setups