The little project that couldn't, part 2 (Issue #5 abstract)

Processes express power.

Author

Chris Musei-Sequeira
September 11, 2024

"Lucyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

You can’t stop us.

This is an abstract of the full newsletter issue, which went only to email subscribers. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive full newsletter issues.

This article discusses a proposed project to develop a cargo facility on an airport somewhere in the United States of America. Our consulting team was hired by the project proponent in 2019 to perform Federal environmental review and public outreach; my specific role was to calculate aircraft air emissions. We helped host the public hearing on the project: a raucous affair where dozens of people commented on unhealthy air quality, wealth-sharing agreements, and more. But, our environmental document showed that the project would have no significant environmental impacts and would also bring thousands of jobs to the region.

That brings me to my thesis: business processes express power. Meaning, business processes are inherently political: they manifest power relations between people. To get a glimpse of those power relations, do a process analysis.

The business process for this project was roughly as follows:

  1. Design a facility for a specific airport

  2. Before constructing the facility, complete Federal environmental review

  3. Before completing Federal environmental review, do the following:
    (A) Publicly disclose potential environmental impacts of constructing and operating the facility
    (B) Receive and respond to public comments

As shown above, the only official focus for public comment was the environmental impacts of the proposed project — not the proposed project itself.

You could say — and I would agree — that the proponent could make fundamental changes to the proposed project if they wanted to. But:

  1. Federal environmental review did not require the proponent to make deeper changes to the proposed project, since its proposal was already compliant with Federal laws; and,

  2. Because public comment came after project design (surely an expensive and lengthy activity), the proponent was heavily incentivized against fundamentally changing its proposal.

I suppose the project could have been stopped or fundamentally changed… but not because of Federal environmental review.

The remainder of the article discusses the importance of positionality and what advocates can do to increase their power to influence business processes.

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Where to find the sustainability perspectives you’ve been missing

FIRST: Forward this issue to people you know in the sustainability industry — they’ll probably say a thing or two in response!

SECOND: Follow on LinkedIn:

THIRD: Subscribe to the “We Are LaCH” podcast, where Heather and Lavinia and I host discussions on anti-oppression — particularly in the context of the sustainability industry.

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My name is Chris Musei-Sequeira, and I use he/him pronouns. My mother was born in Trinidad and Tobago as a descendant of African slaves brought to the islands during the time of European colonization. She came to the United States of America (USA) at the age of 10. My father was born in India, in Mumbai, and raised Catholic and English-speaking; he has a Goan background and describes himself and his family as Brahmin. He came to the USA for his graduate studies, where he met my mother.

My sister and I were born in the USA and lived a middle-class life in the suburbs of multiple American cities. I studied aeronautical engineering and technology policy in university, then worked at the Federal Aviation Administration and as an aviation consultant. I've lived in cities up and down the USA East Coast since the age of 18.

I thank Heather Luna and Lavinia Muth for showing me the importance of publicly expressing positionality. Because of our positionality, all of us are very familiar with some aspects of the world while having no idea of other aspects.