Environmental Justice Strategic Plan Paper

its goals are, how its goals continue to be accomplished, what specific setbacks are remedied from it and how others feel about it.

Today we’re faced with multiple forms of inequalities and injustices. None of them are in no way, shape or form are okay or justifiable. While we as a people are striving to deal with the obvious forms of injustices, there is another form that is a real quiet one, but it can be heard throughout the world that we are living in and is a severe problem that needs to be addressed. The type of injustice that I’m speaking on is called: Environmental Racism. This has been a definite issue that not only affects the environment, but it also has effects on communities, individuals and it effects the economic system in the long run as well. Environmental Racism needs to be brought up in conversations within our communities as well as our local governments, so they will not forget their remains a problem.

The reason for this report was to explain the steps that were taken to create and implement this action plan and the outcomes. My three actions were established to help carry out my vision of bringing together

One of the first influences on the deliberation on Environmental Justice was The Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America. Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. fought hard to ensure that social transformation and power be established for African Americans, especially those in the southern states as well as those in the northern inner-city parts. Activists like King altered the philosophy on Environmental Justice arguing that there was a lopsided effect that proved that environmental hazards were not accidental. What environmentalists advocated instead was that environmental dangers resulted from racial segregation that placed power plants, nuclear plants, and other potential ecological hazards in areas with a high concentration of minority and low income groups. Several activists defined this as “environmental racism.”

Environmental justice issues are not solely about disparate health or economic effects; it also applies when the cultural and historical resources of protected groups are potentially affected by a federally funded transportation project. Native American Tribes are different than other minority groups affected by the environmental impacts of transportation projects. Interactions among tribes, the FHWA, and State DOTs should be structured as a government-to-government relationship. Consultation with tribes is therefore different from traditional public involvement outreach. Reaching out to tribes is still crucial if Federal and State agencies want to be sure that environmental justice concerns are understood and addressed.

“Environmental racism is real…so real that even having the facts, having the documentation and having the information has never been enough to provide equal protection for people of color and poor people” “It takes longer for the response and it takes longer for the recovery in communities of color and low-income communities.” (Bullard, 1994:36)

Certain environmental justice frameworks attempt to turn the dominant environmental paradigm on its head and seek to prevent environmental threats before they occur. This paradigm is known as the Precautionary

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” (www.epa.gov.). The case of Navajo-Hopi Struggle to Protect the Big Mountain Reservation provides evidence of an environmental justice framework.

Environmental justice is the notion that communities should have nondiscriminatory treatment and involvement regardless of race and socioeconomic status in land development, implementation, waste management and enforcement of environmental laws and policies. It is imperative for environmental justice to exist so communities of color are not a part of inequitable housing, waste or toxin dumping, and are able to access information and vote against environmentally racist actions. Environmental racism is the location of low-income or minority communities in vicinity of environmentally harmful environments. In other words, the idea of environmental racism is the knowledge that non-whites are disproportionately exposed to pollution. Studying environmental racism is essential not only to conclude if equalities exist, but to help better comprehend racism. For Laura Pulido, environmental racism is larger than discriminatory acts, and believes there are new insights to the subject, predominantly its spatiality. By limiting the definition of racism to only malicious acts, racial inequalities that are not ascribed directly to aggression cannot be recognized.

Organizing protests with Greenpeace, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is the best way to educate others about environmental racism in their community. According to Huebert (n.d), “If an entire community makes it voice heard, then the industry and government cannot help but listen. Whether the motivation is justice or saving face in front of the media, action will be outspoken about environmental concerns, the industry[‘s] path of least resistance will change” (p.1). The St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment are engaged in discussions regarding environmental racism because low-communities of color show signs of unhappiness and poor health.

The placement of companies deleterious to the environment and well-being of humans is something that prosperous communities are not quite familiar with; in contrast, it is something well-known to less affluent communities. The imbalance of classification shows a lack of environmental justice in low-income and minority communities. According to the EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, “environmental justice is the fair treatment… 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, n.d.). However, the environmental justice, the EPA mentions is not prevalent in communities of color, but rather its counterpart is: environmental injustice. Environmental injustice, or environmental racism, being the excessive placing of perilous waste and contaminating polluters near communities of color (Cha, 2016). Although often overlooked, environmental racism is an extensive problem that negatively affects minority communities in Southeast Los Angeles.

The study was conducted on the basis of community response with hopes of seeking environmental justice throughout

Objective #4: “To support its campaign goal, Hidden Valley enlisted a team of partners to amplify the food waste problem and share tips and solutions for root to stem cooking.” This is an impact objective with several different tactics that have attitudinal, behavioral, and informational types of impacts. To summarize their tactics into the objective; I would have rewritten it as:

The objectives for As A Whistle over the next three years are to achieve sales revenues as demonstrated above, achieve multiple contracts with government and commercial groups and to expand statewide.

Living in a highly industrialized world that is ruled by capitalism, the concern for the environment often takes a back seat. Individuals or companies nowadays prioritize achieving optimal profit without putting into mind what their respective actions or productions may have an effect on the environment. They do not realize how important the role of our environment plays in the quality of human life. We can say that a good environment leads to a better quality life, while a bad environment could lead to a harmful and unproductive life. Now, it becomes unfair and unjust when the risks and costs of a company affect a certain group of people and on the opposite side of the spectrum another group of individuals enjoy the benefits without costs. The individuals that are affected badly are usually from Third World Countries where the distribution of risk and costs are not even (Low and Gleeson 1999). This is where Environmental Justice comes in. Environmental Justice mainly concerns the welfare of human beings (Low and Gleeson 1999). Talking about cities where capitalism surges from, it has been argued that these cities are ‘unfairly structured’ (Low and Gleeson 1999). Basically, what this is saying is that the wealthier you are, the better or cleaner the environment. On the other hand, if you are poor, then the environment around you will have more health risks. This kind of injustice or disparity is what adds fuel to the fire of environmental justice. In