Economist Finds Environmental Injustice Across Country

{xtypo_dropcap}T{/xtypo_dropcap}he U.S. history of environmental injustice spans decades. A 1983 study by the U.S. General Accounting Office found that 75 percent of hazardous waste landfills were in predominantly black and poor neighborhoods. While legislative action since the 1970s has forced industries to improve air and water quality, many poor and minority communities have suffered disproportionally from the ill effects of environmental pollution.

A presentation earlier this month at North Carolina’s Wake Forest University, by journalist Simran Sethi and Bennett College President and economist Julianne Malveaux, explored new ways to think about environmental justice.

“Degradation of our environment in someone else’s neighborhood is a rejection of that person’s humanity,” stated Malveaux, in a news release from Wake Forest.

There are several reasons why industries choose to locate in poor and minority neighborhoods. In the 2001 study “Social Stratification of Pollution Across America: Analysis and Economic Perspectives,” researcher William Nichols explained that “housing market discrimination, local job opportunities for the low income and minority families, environmental regulations, and the simple fact that land near polluting industries is cheap compared to environmentally sound areas” made these areas desirable for such businesses.{etRelated 44232, 45622}

In “Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the U.S.” published earlier this year, journalist Steve Lerner profiled 12 communities around the country that endure close proximity to heavily polluted industrial sites. He found that while there are some activists working to challenge these polluters, many of these communities do not want the industries to leave because they are desperate for the jobs they provide.

“African-Americans still lag in our economy,” Malveaux stated. “Recession has made inequities much worse. 14.3 percent of our nation lives in poverty. 25.8 percent of these people are African American. 25.4 percent are Latino. There are poor areas in Mississippi that have never seen clear water, but the people who live there are told it’s safe to drink. Certain people are not entitled to the same things other people are entitled to. What is acceptable in ‘Sugar Ditch,’ Miss., would never be acceptable in White Plains, N.Y.”

Sethi linked environmental justice to concerns about the future of humanity. “This generation is the first generation that may not outlive its parents,” she said. “Pollutants and toxins do not have boundaries. Toxins start in one place but they don’t stay there. If you put something into the environment that’s harmful, it affects everyone.”

Sethi explained that the solution for environmental injustice is about looking at the world differently. “Everything we love, everything we want to do or be, exists in this ecosystem. No one wants to live in a world with contaminated soil where they can’t drink the water.”

Reusable water bottles, recycling efforts, and walking rather than driving are first steps in nurturing a long relationship with the earth, wrote Sethi in the university press release. But the best relationships, while gratifying, are messy, complicated, and hard, according to Sethi.

Malveaux encouraged students to become involved by “examining the structural issues around environmental injustice and being willing to talk about the uneven distribution of resources and burdens.”

Malveaux particularly encouraged African-Americans to become involved. “You have to put out a search party to find an African-American in the environmental movement,” she stated.

“Environmental inequities can be solved,” said Wake Forest Provost Jill Tiefenthaler. “Bold conversations need to continue on college campuses to educate people about these issues and empower them to find successful solutions through economic, social, and political action.”

Read more at The Epoch Times