Today s Topics l Environmental Racism Justice and Environmental

Today’s Topics l Environmental Racism Justice and Environmental

Jared Diamond: Why Societies Fail: l Failure to anticipate a problem l Failure to perceive a problem l Failure to try to solve a problem l Failure to solve despite attempts

Environmental Justice Two questions: 1. How is the burden of pollution distributed in our society (who actually bears the burden)? 2. How should the burden of pollution be distributed (who ought to bear the burden)? l

Who Bears the Burden of Pollution? l Demographic and epidemiological analysis. l Start with EPA lists of Toxic Release Points (TRP’s) and Hazardous Waste Sites (Superfund sites) l Toxic sites cluster—Louisiana (cancer alley), LA, Chicago, New Jersey, Pacific Northwest (Hanford, WA) l Most studied area is cancer alley

Cancer Alley

Problematic Industries Located Along Cancer Alley l Refineries l Plastic polymer industries (chlorine, benzene) l Dry-cleaning chemical manufacturers

Who Bears the Burden? l After identifying site clusters: l Use GIS and Census data to identify income, racial, ethnic, and religious profile of people living in proximity to the TRP’s l Perform a multiple regression analysis to determine which factors account for proximity to TRP’s l Race is the strongest predictor—

Who Bears the Burden? l Blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics and Asians are 2 -3 times more likely to live near a TRP than comparable income whites. l Finally, compare health profiles of those living near TRP’s to those further away. l Respiratory ailments in Cancer Alley are 4 times the national average. l Cancer rates vary by type of cancer but in some instances (liver) are 10 times the national average.

Who SHOULD Bear the Burden? l This is a normative question that is loaded with value assumptions. l The Summers memo l From an economic point of view, the poor should bear this burden. l The economic (and political)logic behind selecting Yucca Mountain

Burden Distribution Principles l. A question of distributive justice

Distributive Justice l Act in way that promote a just* distribution of social goods.

Theories of Justice Include: l Equality l Need l Contribution l Effort l Merit l Market forces

Environmental Racism The intentional targeting of people of color to bear the burden of pollution. l In Cancer Alley companies bought out white residents living in proximity to TRP’s but did not buy out similarly situated people of color. l Studies in LA and Chicago discovered intentional targeting of minority neighborhoods. l

Studying Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism l Deep South Center for Environmental Justice www. DSCEJ. org l Mid-South Center for Environmental Justice here at Southeast