Following its founding on the banks of the Puget Sound, Amazon.com has gone on to form a vast net of tributaries spanning sea to shining sea–which have recently snaked down to Louisiana. Much like America’s great waterways, Amazon has a reputation as an economy-boosting force, and many states that have opened facilities have seen overall positive gains. 

Amazon, however, is not a biodiverse waterway–and most metrics of success for regions where operations have been placed only count the economic benefits, turning a blind eye to the array of possible detriments. 

When considering the downsides of Amazon’s operations, one can’t help but wonder about the infrastructural implications. In a rapidly growing state like North Carolina, this particular problem might seem less worrying. But for Louisiana, these massive facilities could easily affect an already struggling power grid. Amazon requires a preponderance of electricity; and for rural areas in North Louisiana, it is bold to assume that local energy can keep up with the demand, especially when it has shown to have trouble even sustaining its small populace. 

The environmental concerns of Amazon’s presence are very real. Whatever sustainability Amazon may attempt to implement in their practices will be a drop of water compared to the size and scope of an objectively unsustainable model. 

Amazon is not getting better on this front, they are only getting worse. As of 2024, the company has seen a 6% increase in carbon emissions, largely brought on by AI expansion–as reported by the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy. As long as these carbon-emitting, water-guzzling data centers are built by Amazon, the company has no business pretending to be sustainable. 

Additionally, Caddo and Bossier Parishes are home to wetlands which are of extreme  importance to local and migratory wildlife, and they are already very sensitive to human interference. The main problem here, amid many, is AI’s aforementioned water usage, which would obviously affect the delicate balance of the nature in the area. 

What has arguably made Amazon the most infamous is the relationship with its workforce. Amazon has had many scandals related to poor treatment of its employees, and whatever these workers are making does not seem worth the mistreatment and union-busting. Many Amazon employees at these facilities see as little as 15 dollars an hour, according to recent job listings; substantially less than the $69,000-per year average income of Bossier Parish, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Amazon is ultimately not a force for good in Louisiana. What they bring is more parasitic than symbiotic. They rake in the dough with tax incentives, while draining the area dry of its precious resources and polluting the environment. It doesn’t matter if Amazon might make the economy better on paper if everyday people aren’t benefitting. And the increase in jobs means nothing if worker’s rights are considered a suggestion and a living wage is treated like a fairy tale. This deal helps Bezos and the politicians in Baton Rouge with their lucrative pacs–and helps everybody else just enough to where you forget how negative the realities of it really are.