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The Fossil Fueled Metropolis: Los Angeles and the Emergence of Oil-Based Energy in North America, 1865- 1930 by Jason Arthur Cooke A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Geography University of Toronto © Copyright by Jason Arthur Cooke, 2014 The Fossil Fueled Metropolis: Los Angeles and the Emergence of Oil-Based Energy in North America Jason Arthur Cooke Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography University of Toronto 2014 Abstract Beginning with coal in the nineteenth century, the mass production and intensive consumption of fossil fuel energy fundamentally changed patterns of urban and industrial development in North America. Focusing on the metropolitan development of Los Angeles, this dissertation examines how the emergence of oil-based capitalism in the first three decades of the twentieth century was sustained and made increasingly resilient through the production of urban and industrial space. In a region where coal was scarce, the development of oil-based energy was predicated on long- term investments into conversion technologies, storage systems and distribution networks that facilitated the efficient and economical flow of liquefied fossil fuel. In this dissertation, I argue that the historical and geographical significance of the Southern California petroleum industry is derived from how its distinctive market expansion in the first three decades of the twentieth century helped establish the dominance of oil-based energy as the primary fuel for transportation in capitalist society. In North America, the origins of oil-based capitalism can be traced to the turn of the twentieth century when California was the largest oil-producing economy in the United States and Los Angeles was the fastest growing metropolitan region. This dissertation traces how Los Angeles became the first city in North ii America where oil became a formative element of urban and industrial development: not only as fuel for transportation, but also in the infrastructures, landscapes and networks that sustain a critical dependence on oil-based energy. With a distinctive metropolitan geography, decentralized and automobile-dependent, Los Angeles became the first oil-based city in North America and thus provides an ideal case study for examining the regional dynamics of energy transition, establishment and dependence. Interwoven with the production of urban and industrial space, oil remains the primary fuel that sustains the capitalist mode of production. iii Acknowledgments This dissertation is the product of an extensive support system for which I will always be indebted. Foremost, I would like to thank the co-supervisors of my doctoral degree at the University of Toronto, Professors Matthew Farish and W. Scott Prudham. Over the last four years, Matt and Scott have provided me with the guidance, support and encouragement that all doctoral candidates need. Overall, their input into my research and writing process has made this dissertation incredibly stronger. In addition to Matt and Scott, I would also like to thank the other members of my supervisory committee, Professors R. Alan Walks and Daniel Bender. This dissertation has been improved considerably with the comments that Alan and Dan have provided me over the long-duration of the research and writing process as well as in the internal defense. I would also like to extend gratitude to Professor Sarah S. Elkind, who graciously agreed to be the external committee member for my final defense before the School of Graduate Studies. Detailed and critical, Professor Elkind’s review of this dissertation gave me the direction that I needed to make the most out of the final revision process. Thank you. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the University of Toronto and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Without this generous support, I would not have had the opportunity to begin, let alone complete, this research. iv Table of Contents List of Figures vi List of Tables vii Introduction – Oil and the historical problem of fossil fuel energy dependence 1 1. Oil, spatial fix and landscapes of fossil fueled capitalism in Southern California 21 2. Fueling metropolitan development: landscapes and layers of oil-based energy in Southern California 51 3. Displacing coal: the Southern Pacific Company and the emergence of oil-based energy in Southern California 77 4. Built on purpose: Los Angeles Harbor as a spatial-fix for oil-based energy 110 5. Embracing energy: Los Angeles and the municipal regulation of oil-based capitalism in Southern California 146 6. Fueling the nation: competition, waste and the political ecology of oil conservation in Southern California 180 Conclusion – Los Angeles, Southern California and the oil-based foundations of North American Capitalism 210 v List of Figures 1.1. Relief map of territory served by the lines of [the] Pacific Electric Railway, 1920 39 1.2. Proposed road network for Los Angles, 1924 41 1.3. The Lakeview Gusher in 1910 48 2.1. Relationship between transportation and cheap fuel prices in Southern California 52 2.2. Map of pipeline and oil producing districts in California, 1915 62 2.3. Demonstrating oil trouble at Standard Oil service station at Adams & Vermont, Los Angeles, 1928 71 2.4. Los Angeles gets first big smog, 26 July 1943 74 3.1. Meeting at the “Golden Spike,” Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, 10 May 1869 84 3.2. Map showing mileage owned in 1913 by the Central Pacific Railway and the Southern Pacific Railroad 86 3.3. California pipelines and producing districts, 1911 95 3.4. The Southern Pacific Company “uses oil in a thousand different ways” 97 4.1. Los Angeles Harbor breakwater construction, 1902 122 4.2. The Los Angeles “shoestring district” 124 4.3. Proposed land-use zoning plan for Los Angles Harbor, 1925 131 4.4. Aerial view of tank farm of General Petroleum Company on Harbor Boulevard, 1924 135 4.5. Loading station of Pan American Petroleum Company at entrance to Los Angeles Harbor, 1925 137 4.6. The Los Angeles energy outlet, 1927 143 5.1. Oil wells on Court Street, 1901 151 5.2. Map of oil wells in Los Angeles, 1906 154 5.3. Cluster of oil wells in Los Angeles, 1910 157 5.4. Venice-Del Ray oil fields, September 1930 172 vi List of Tables 2.1. Southern California oil field and production data, 1876-March 1928 60 2.2. Los Angeles population and industrial expansion, 1880-1930 68 3.1. Consumption of fuel oil in California, 1919 100 3.2. Refined production obtained from California crude oils, 1922-1930 102 4.1. Ship tonnage through Los Angeles Harbor, 1880- 1930 139 4.2. Increase in oil shipping by barrels for Los Angeles Harbor, 1902-1930 141 vii INTRODUCTION Oil and the historical problem of fossil fuel energy dependence The events known as the energy crisis of 1973 exposed the precarious foundations of the “American Century,” a period of history when oil became the quintessential fuel in urban North America. When the Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC) declared an oil embargo against the United States, the global dominance of advanced capitalism was faced with the threat of immediate energy scarcity – not only perceived, but also in absolute terms. “The Arab oil embargo in 1973…raised serious questions about American vulnerability,” argues Martin V. Melosi, “especially in the acquisition and control of energy resources.”1 Between 1950 and 1970, oil demand in the United States (relatively high to begin with) had nearly tripled. Due to the inability of domestic reserves to satisfy this surge in demand, this energy need has increasingly been supplied with crude oil imported from the Middle East. By the 1970s, the landscapes, economies and culture of consumption in North America had become critically dependent on nonrenewable sources of imported fossil fuel energy.2 Beginning with coal in the middle of the nineteenth century, the mass production and intensive consumption of fossil fuel energy fundamentally changed the structural possibilities of urban and industrial development in North America. “Modern societies as we have known them could not operate without ample and diverse supplies of energy,” argues historian Jay Hakes, 1 Martin V. Melosi, Coping with Abundance: Energy and Environment in Industrial America (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1985), 277. 2 Gavin Bridge and Philippe Le Billion, Oil (Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press, 2013), 15; Brian C. Black, “Oil for living: petroleum and American conspicuous consumption,” The Journal of American History 99 (1) (2012): 40- 50; David S. Painter, “Oil and the American Century,” The Journal of American History 99 (1) (2012): 24-39; James Laxer, Oil: A Groundwork Guide (Toronto and Berkeley: House of Anansi Press, 2008), 43-65; Vaclav Smil, Oil: A Beginner’s Guide (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2008), 27; David Harvey, The New Imperialism (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 1-25; Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (New York and London: Free Press, 1991), 501-522. 1 “suggesting that the story of our major fuels can hardly be ignored in any attempt to understand American history.”3 Over the course of the twentieth century, oil-based energy became “internal and necessary” to the capitalist mode of production – especially in the transportation sector.4 “Without oil there is virtually no mobility,” explains renowned energy historian Daniel Yergin, “and without electricity – and energy to generate that electricity – there would be no Internet age.”5 Indeed, the survival of capitalism seemingly depends on the constant motion that fossil fuel energy provides, making the “annihilation of space by time” possible.6 Insofar as capitalism depends on the application of technology and the building of transportation infrastructure to overcome the friction of distance, oil-based energy has become an indispensable element to the accumulation process, which emerged historically and geographically based on the mobilization of massive quantities of fossilized energy.