Transcript Environmental Justice

Today’s Topics

Environmental Justice and Environmental
Racism
Jared Diamond: Why
Societies Fail:

Failure to anticipate a problem
 Failure to perceive a problem
 Failure to try to solve a problem
 Failure to solve despite attempts
Environmental Justice

1.
2.
Two questions:
How is the burden of pollution distributed
in our society (who actually bears the
burden)?
How should the burden of pollution be
distributed (who ought to bear the
burden)?
Who Bears the Burden of
Pollution?

Demographic and epidemiological analysis.
 Start with EPA lists of Toxic Release Points
(TRP’s) and Hazardous Waste Sites
(Superfund sites)
 Toxic sites cluster—Louisiana (cancer
alley), LA, Chicago, New Jersey, Pacific
Northwest (Hanford, WA)
 Most studied area is cancer alley
Cancer Alley
Problematic Industries
Located Along Cancer Alley

Refineries
 Plastic polymer industries (chlorine,
benzene)
 Dry-cleaning chemical manufacturers
Who Bears the Burden?

After identifying site clusters:
 Use GIS and Census data to identify income,
racial, ethnic, and religious profile of people
living in proximity to the TRP’s
 Perform a multiple regression analysis to
determine which factors account for proximity
to TRP’s
 Race is the strongest predictor—
Who Bears the Burden?

Blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics and
Asians are 2-3 times more likely to live near a
TRP than comparable income whites.
 Finally, compare health profiles of those living
near TRP’s to those further away.
 Respiratory ailments in Cancer Alley are 4
times the national average.
 Cancer rates vary by type of cancer but in
some instances (liver) are 10 times the
national average.
Who SHOULD Bear the
Burden?

This is a normative question that is loaded
with value assumptions.
 The Summers memo
 From an economic point of view, the poor
should bear this burden.
 The economic (and political)logic behind
selecting Yucca Mountain
Burden Distribution Principles

A question of distributive justice
Distributive Justice

Act in way that promote a just* distribution
of social goods.
Theories of Justice Include:

Equality
 Need
 Contribution
 Effort
 Merit
 Market forces
Environmental Racism

The intentional targeting of people of color to bear
the burden of pollution.
 In Cancer Alley companies bought out white
residents living in proximity to TRP’s but did not
buy out similarly situated people of color.
 Studies in LA and Chicago discovered intentional
targeting of minority neighborhoods.
Studying Environmental Justice and
Environmental Racism

Deep South Center for Environmental
Justice www.DSCEJ.org
 Mid-South Center for Environmental
Justice here at Southeast