Environmental justice (person-centered ) focus on rights focus on communities at risk remedying...

Environmental justice (person-centered ) focus on rights focus on communities at risk remedying or mitigating physical risks and harms

Environmental equity (resource-centered) focus on the allocation of resources among disadvantaged groups (indigenous

peoples) across regions (neo-colonialism)

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Unfair risk distribution US domestic▪ Class and SES (socioeconomic status) matter▪ Risks cluster in poor and minority communities▪ Downward spiral

International▪ Unequal vulnerability to climate change, for

example Unfair resource use/allocation

▪ Priorities set by capital and neo-liberal policies▪ “Common property of humankind” (ocean beds,

rainforests, biodiversity) unequally shared

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I got hooked. I started connecting the dots in terms of housing, residential patterns, patterns of land use, where highways go, where transportation routes go, and how economic-development decisions are made. It was very clear that people who were making decisions -- county commissioners or industrial boards or city councils -- were not the same people who were "hosting" these facilities in their communities. Without a doubt, it was a form of apartheid where whites were making decisions and black people and brown people and people of color, including Native Americans on reservations, had no seat at the table.

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Robert Bullard

“MATTER OUT OF PLACE”

VISIBLE DIRT, PLUMES, DEPOSITS

HUMAN-MADE EMISSIONS

HARMFUL CONCENTRATIONS

WASTED RESOURCES

MATTER UNFAIRLY PLACED

OVERLAPPING BURDENS (ECONOMIC/ ENVIRONMENTAL)

SOCIALLY AMPLIFIED RISKS

COSTS WITHOUT BENEFITS

LACK OF DUE PROCESS

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Executive Order 12898, February, 1994 (issued by President Clinton)

Authority: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Mandate: Each Federal agency shall ensure that

all programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance that affect human health or the environment do not use criteria, methods, or practices that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin

Instrument: Agency-wide environmental justice strategy to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations

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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. EPA has this goal for all communities and persons across this Nation. 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.

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Federal role (e.g., EPA, Interagency Working Group)

Analytic procedures: parallels with EIS Novel methodologies and expert conflicts

How do you measure discrepant local impacts? Cause-effect relationships?

New forms of participation Community-level mobilization (brief history of

community “right to know” legislation [TRI, LEPCs])

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Chattanooga, like many cities in the United States, has a history of struggles with both air and water pollution. In 1964, the Tennessee Department of Public Health stated the Chattanooga Creek was “without doubt, the most grossly polluted stream in the Chattanooga area.” In addition, in 1969, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare determined that Chattanooga had the poorest air quality in the nation.After these reports, citizens, industry leaders and government joined together to approve an Air Pollution Control Ordinance in 1969. This local ordinance set restrictions on almost all pollution-causing activities within Chattanooga and Hamilton County. It placed limits on all visible emissions from local industries. Although debated for years, pollution control become a priority and within 3 years, every major pollution source was in compliance.

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How did the Yavapai achieve success in blocking dam and preventing flooding of ancestral lands? Normative claims embedded in history of

Native American land claims Political mobilization by close-knit activist

community Result: successful defense of

incommensurables (recall discussion of cost-benefit analysis)

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Delay, not drop

Dependence on political timetable (election cycle)

Interest balancing

Use of knowledge-making (more review)

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Geographic inequity - Unequal distribution of environmental resources, costs, and benefits among regions and nations [fuels, water, biodiversity].

Political inequity - Imbalance of power and de facto discrimination in global environmental policies and decisions [population, technology, colonial legacies].

Procedural inequity - Unfairness and lack of accountability in rules, regulations, representation [institutional design, treaty terms].

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