Environmental Justice Flashcards
Definition of environmental justice
Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies… It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.
Root causes of why minority and low socioeconomic populations are victims of environmental racism
Little education about the hazards
- Lack of financial resources to move or affect change
- Poor ability to organize
- Less political influence or sway in land-use decisions
Historical examples of environmental justice movement
-Shocco Township, NC: a landfill was built to dump
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The other available
sites for the Warren County PCB Landfill were in
significantly richer neighborhoods with larger
Caucasian populations, whereas Shocco Township
was:
-69% African American
-20% of the residents fell below the national poverty
lines.
Despite the national media attention and protests, the
landfill was still built in Shocco Township.
It took 25 years of protests and lawsuits to finally close
the landfill and begin its cleanup.
-Woburn, MA: Beatrice Foods and W.R. Grace &
Company polluted the local water supply in Woburn,
MA with trichloroethylene, resulting in cases and
deaths from leukemia and cancer
-Hinckley, CA: Pacific Gas & Energy dumped hexavalent
chromium into the groundwater of Hinkley, CA
How/why language barrier compounds environmental justice issues for Latino populations
It limits understanding of government proposals and educational campaigns. Many are also of low SES and face many similar problems that African American communities do as it pertains to environmental justice
