Critical week 8

Environmental Justice

Critical Urbanism

Montgomery Norton

May 19, 2009

Poisoned Communities

• Institute of Medicine of the National Academies– Toward Environmental Justice: Research,

Education, and Health Policy Needs (1999)

• Center for Health, Environment, & Justice– Poisoned Schools: Invisible threats, visible action

(2001)

Communities for a Better Environment: Toxic Tour

Environmental Justice

• “No group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies” - EPA

Police Power:The purpose of local government

• The authority conferred upon the states by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and which the states delegate to their political subdivisions to enact measures to preserve and protect the safety, health, welfare, and morals of the community.

People of Color and Toxic Release Facilities: LA County

Environmental Justice

• “Environmental Racism: denial of human rights, environmental protection, and economic opportunities” to communities of color (p.1).

• “Environmental justice is a civil rights and a human rights issue” (p. 2).

• Health is the main focus of the environmental justice movement in the U.S.

Environmental Justice in the Philippines

Why?• Social and Environmental externalities

• Disenfranchised voices can’t speak

• CEQA/NEPA - enforced through litigation

• No other comparable state environmental regulations

San Francisco Bay: Pollution and race

Where?

• Cancer Alley - Louisiana’s petrochemical corridor

• Texas’ Gulf Coast Communities

• North Richmond, CA• Los Angeles/Long Beach

Ports, CA• West Dallas, TX• South Bronx, NY• South Central LA, CA

Principles of Environmental Justice (Oct 27,1991)

• Preamble: “We the People of Color... fight(ing) the destruction and taking of our lands and communities, do hereby re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness of our Mother Earth; to respect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves...”

Environmental Justice • U.S. EPA (1992)

– Office of Environmental Equity (renamed Office of Environmental Justice)

• Executive Order 12898 (1994)– Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in

Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

• CA Office of Planning and Research:– General Plan Guidelines (2003) - Sustainable

Development and Environmental Justice– Env Just in CA State Government (2003)

• Cal/EPA (2004)– Environmental Justice Action Plan; Inter-Agency

Environmental Justice Strategy

Solutions• Environmental Justice framework seeks to

prevent environmental threats before they occur - “Precautionary Principle”

• Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management Corp. (1979)

• Activation & mobilization of the disenfranchised (impoverished, indigenous, minorities, women, and children)

• Join forces: Environmental & Social Justice activists into the Environmental Justice Movement (Sustainability)

Green Collar Jobs

• Green-collar jobs address two crucial concerns facing our survival—restoring the environment and making a living.

• Work within the growing industries that are helping us kick the oil habit, curb greenhouse-gas emissions, eliminate toxins, and protect natural systems.

Focus the Nation, 2008