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"For millennia, urban centers were pivots of power and trade that ruled and linked rural majorities. After 1950, explosive urbanization led to unprecedented urban majorities. That transformation--inextricably tied to rising globalization--changed almost everything for nearly everybody. New World Cities looks at six metropolises during the twentieth century--Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montreal, Los Angeles, and Houston--exploring the challenges of explosive urbanization and the gains and limits of popular politics"--

Energy and environment -- A mixed blessing: energy, economic growth, and Houston's environment / Joseph A. Pratt -- The Houston ship channel and the changing landscape of industrial pollution / Hugh S. Gorman -- "Bad science" : the politics of ozone air pollution in Houston / Robert Fisher -- "The air-conditioning capital of the world" : Houston and climate control / Robert S. Thompson -- Growth of the metropolitan region -- Houston's public sinks : sanitary services from local concerns to regional challenges / Martin V. Melosi -- Superhighway deluxe : Houston's Gulf freeway / Tom Watson McKinney -- Urban sprawl and the piney woods : deforestation in the San Jacinto watershed / Diane C. Bates -- A tale of two Texas cities : Houston, the industrial metropolis, and Galveston, the island getaway / William Barnett -- Environmental activism at the grassroots -- Dumping on Houston's black neighborhoods / Robert D. Bullard -- The gunfighters of Northwood Manor : how history debunks myths of the environmental justice movement -- Elizabeth D. Blum -- "To combine many and varied forces" : the hope of Houston's environmental activism, 1923-1999 / Teresa Tomkins-Walsh -- Voices of discord : the effects of a grassroots environmental movement at the brio superfund site / Kimberly A. Youngblood -- Notes

Fossil fuels propelled industries and nations into the modern age and continue to powerfully influence economies and politics today. As Energy Capitals demonstrates, the discovery and exploitation of fossil fuels has proven to be a mixed blessing in many of the cities and regions where it has occurred. With case studies from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Africa, and Australia, this volume views a range of older and more recent energy capitals, contrasts their evolutions, and explores why some capitals were able to influence global trends in energy production and distribution while others failed to control even their own destinies. Chapters show how local and national politics, social structures, technological advantages, education systems, capital, infrastructure, labor force, supply and demand, and other factors have affected the ability of a region to develop and control its own fossil fuel reserves. The contributors also view the environmental impact of energy industries and demonstrate how, in the depletion of reserves or a shift to new energy sources, regions have or have not been able to recover economically. The cities of Tampico, Mexico, and Port Gentil, Gabon, have seen their oil deposits exploited by international companies with little or nothing to show in return and at a high cost environmentally. At the opposite extreme, Houston, Texas, has witnessed great economic gain from its oil, natural gas, and petrochemical industries. Its growth, however, has been tempered by the immense strain on infrastructure and the human transformation of the natural environment. In another scenario, Perth, Australia, Calgary, Alberta, and Stavanger, Norway have benefitted as the closest established cities with administrative and financial assets for energy production that was developed hundreds of miles away. Whether coal, oil, or natural gas, the essays offer important lessons learned over time and future considerations for the best ways to capture the benefits of energy development while limiting the cost to local populations and environments.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1 INTRODUCTION -- 2 ATLANTA: IF DIXIE WERE ATLANTA -- 3 MIAMI: THE ETHNIC CAULDRON -- 4 NEW ORLEANS: SUNBELT IN THE SWAMP -- 5 TAMPA: FROM HELL HOLE TO THE GOOD LIFE -- 6 DALLAS-FORT: WORTH MARKETING THE METROPLEX -- 7 HOUSTON: THE GOLDEN BUCKLE OF THE SUNBELT -- 8 OKLAHOMA: CITY BOOMING SOONER -- 9 SAN ANTONIO: THE VICISSITUDES OF BOOSTERISM -- 10 ALBUQUERQUE: CITY AT A CROSSROADS -- 11 LOS ANGELES: IMPROBABLE LOS ANGELES -- 12 PHOENIX THE DESERT METROPOLIS -- 13 SAN DIEGO: THE ANTI-CITY -- CONTRIBUTORS