By Adeline Wells
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 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, 2017). There are two distinct pieces to this concept. First, it maintains that all people are to be equally protected from environmental threats. Secondly, it asserts that all people are to have equal access to environmental management and decision-making processes, by way of their right to vote for elected officials who represent their interests, as well as their own involvement in local government, lobbying groups, and environmental organizations. In 1994, President Clinton issued an Executive Order mandating that all federal environmental health programs and activities meet environmental justice standards, marking the first adoption of the concept into United States’ law.
The environmental justice movement draws attention to the disproportionate impacts that environmental hazards have on marginalized populations; in particular, people of lower socioeconomic status and people of color. Examples of this phenomenon are far too abundant in modern-day America. When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, it was impoverished communities of color who were and continue to be most severely impacted by catastrophic flooding and storm damage. The children of Flint, Michigan, a predominantly African American city, cannot drink water from their taps without filters, while the Standing Rock Sioux live in constant fear of the hazardous 470,000 barrels of oil running through the Dakota Access Pipeline across their reservation each day.
Wisconsin is fighting its own battles with environmental injustice, as pipelines are planned through working-class neighborhoods, and impoverished communities are subject to the adverse effects of fracking, mining and hazardous waste. Additionally, the state of Wisconsin mirrors the national trend of whitewashing environmental politics. Little room is left for participation by lower-income individuals and people of color when environmental conversations and goals are dominated and determined by the white majority. In the pursuit of a more just and inclusive environmental movement, the voices and concerns of marginalized social groups must be elevated and heard.
The goal of this blog is to expand awareness and discussion on the prevalence of environmental justice issues in Wisconsin. In order to address injustice and ensure environmental politics accurately represent everyone in our state, environmentalism must be considered through the lens of social justice. This allows organizations to form stronger alliances across social barriers with the ultimate goal of protecting the environment while advancing equity, justice and fairness.
Are you interested in working with the Sierra Club-John Muir Chapter on issues of environmental equity, inclusion and justice? Email the Equity, Inclusion and Justice Chair, Kendl Kobbervig, at kobbervig@wisc.edu to learn more.