Singing for la Mêche Perdue

Abstract

This chapter examines protest songs written in response to two environmental crises, the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the long-term coastal erosion of Louisiana's wetlands. It concludes that these songs have been ineffective in changing attitudes and behaviors deleterious to the environment and proposes some reasons why this might be so, including self-censorship, the substantial financial and social capital of the oil industry in the region, and (like other case studies in this volume) a disconnect between cultural sustainability and environmental sustainability. Songwriters employ various perspectives including empathy for wildlife, environmental justice for workers and residents whose lives and health have been affected, and one in protest on behalf of the oil industry.