Feast or folly

It all depends how you look at it, but the proposal for the state of Louisiana to partner with Kuwait’s national oil company to build a refinery in Garyville is tantalizing news.

It would represent a massive, multibillion-dollar shot for Louisiana’s economy, both from new jobs during construction and tax collections on the plant’s production—minus, of course, the generous tax breaks Louisiana would be expected to proffer to lure Kuwait Petroleum Corp. here in the first place.

It’s a savvy play by Shaw Group’s Jim Bernhard Jr., whose Baton Rouge-based company could become a key player in building it, ensuring even more local jobs.

The downside?

Heavy industry is why we have a lousy environment. Despite new programs to train a new generation of petrochemical operators, our existing plants struggle to find skilled personnel. Are our children interested in working in the plants? And a massive refinery is precisely the kind of business that churns the stomachs of young entrepreneurs developing newer, cleaner technologies and searching for places that offer a better quality of life. Would this project attract young people or push more away?

Gov. Kathleen Blanco agreed with Kuwait to spend the next two years studying the financial feasibility of the refinery. This pushes the ultimate decision beyond the next gubernatorial election. It also gives the rest of us two years to decide whether we want to pursue the kind of industry of Louisiana’s past, or hold out for newer, cleaner ones.