This AP report about the concerns of our major fossil-fuel companies is just chockfull of delicious breakfast ironies.

Like other oceanfront projects, this one would protect homes, delicate ecosystems and vital infrastructure, but it also has another priority — to shield some of the crown jewels of the petroleum industry, which is blamed for contributing to global warming and now wants the federal government to build safeguards against the consequences of it.

The plan is focused on a stretch of coastline that runs from the Louisiana border to industrial enclaves south of Houston that are home to one of the world's largest concentrations of petrochemical facilities, including most of Texas' 30 refineries, which represent 30 percent of the nation's refining capacity. Texas is seeking at least $12 billion for the full coastal spine, with nearly all of it coming from public funds. Last month, the government fast-tracked an initial $3.9 billion for three separate, smaller storm barrier projects that would specifically protect oil facilities.

Yes, the fact that these companies are asking the taxpayers of the world they're ruining to pay for protecting them against the consequences of the world they're ruining is good for a rueful laugh and a quick-tempered reference to roosting chickens.

But, last year, I drove up the path of Hurricane Harvey, from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston, and I saw small towns and their small business in sticks and splinters. I saw people living in tents because their roofs were somewhere in the next county. And the fact remains that these companies go out of their way to put their facilities in some of the country's poorest neighborhoods. So, yeah, this is a wall we should build. Hell, it's infrastructure week anyway.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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