Environmental Justice
Environmental problems have an outsized effect on poor people in our country and across the world. Everyone has a right to equal environmental protection under the law. And we all deserve to live, work and play in communities that are safe and healthy. However, disproportionate environmental impacts result in poor people and people who live in industrial or coastal areas being more likely to be exposed to environmental hazards and related health burdens.
As environmental educators, it is our responsibility to recognize the disparities; engage students in learning about environmental impacts scientifically and understanding the factors that contribute to human impacts including economics and public policy; and provide opportunities for student problem-solving and decision-making that can make a difference in the world.
To learn more, read "Race, Class, Gender and American Environmentalism" by Dorceta E Taylor
As environmental educators, it is our responsibility to recognize the disparities; engage students in learning about environmental impacts scientifically and understanding the factors that contribute to human impacts including economics and public policy; and provide opportunities for student problem-solving and decision-making that can make a difference in the world.
To learn more, read "Race, Class, Gender and American Environmentalism" by Dorceta E Taylor
Resources for Teaching Environmental Justice with a JEDI Heart
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Whether you identify as an environmental educator, a classroom teacher, a naturalist, professor, or ranger, environmental justice is relevant and appropriate to teach. This interdisciplinary topic includes elements of social studies, policy and science. To help your students become "JEDI warriors" who can identify and analyze Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion issues in the context of environmental problem-solving, consider using some of the following lessons in your teaching practice and engaging students in collecting data with the tools provided in the next section.
Lessons from Teaching Tolerance
Analyzing Environmental Racism in an Oil Spill Clean-Up and Analyzing Environmental Justice in Pollution Impacts. Also, feel free to check out EEA's instructional strategies for culturally responsive teaching or sign up for one of our occasional workshops on this topic. |
Discriminatory lending practices that contributed to urban heat islands
You may have heard of "systemic racism" and wondered in what form - or even whether - it exists. Like individual racism, systemic racism can be intentional or the result of unconscious bias. It is caused by institutional actions that contribute to discrimination. One example is "redlining," a policy of the federal government to draw red lines on maps around neighborhoods where Black people lived, to prevent banks from making federally-backed mortgage loans in those areas. Although this practice began in the 1930s, its effects are still felt today by people of color whose elders or ancestors were denied home loans and therefore denied the opportunity to pass a home to the next generation. Owning a home proved to be one of the most effective ways for families to raise themselves out of poverty and into a middle class lifestyle, especially after soldiers returned from World War 2 with eligibility for VA loans. So what does a discriminatory mortgage banking practice, instigated by federal government policy, have to do with the environment? Areas that were redlined still have more pavement, fewer trees, and hotter temperatures than other neighborhoods, even decades later. These "urban heat islands" contribute to health impacts that are amplified by global warming. To learn more about the environmental impact of redlining, read this New York Times interactive article on: How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering.
You may have heard of "systemic racism" and wondered in what form - or even whether - it exists. Like individual racism, systemic racism can be intentional or the result of unconscious bias. It is caused by institutional actions that contribute to discrimination. One example is "redlining," a policy of the federal government to draw red lines on maps around neighborhoods where Black people lived, to prevent banks from making federally-backed mortgage loans in those areas. Although this practice began in the 1930s, its effects are still felt today by people of color whose elders or ancestors were denied home loans and therefore denied the opportunity to pass a home to the next generation. Owning a home proved to be one of the most effective ways for families to raise themselves out of poverty and into a middle class lifestyle, especially after soldiers returned from World War 2 with eligibility for VA loans. So what does a discriminatory mortgage banking practice, instigated by federal government policy, have to do with the environment? Areas that were redlined still have more pavement, fewer trees, and hotter temperatures than other neighborhoods, even decades later. These "urban heat islands" contribute to health impacts that are amplified by global warming. To learn more about the environmental impact of redlining, read this New York Times interactive article on: How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering.
Tools for Examining Evidence of Environmental Impacts on People
EPA's EJ Screen provides a way to create and overlay maps that show low income or minority communities, industrialized areas, waste disposal or chemical release sites, and other sources of pollution. Created as a tool for staff of the Environmental Protection Agency to use, EJ Screen is available to the public as a screening-level tool with the caveat that it does not constitute an official risk assessment and is an unofficial indicator of the need for further investigation.
EPA's TRI Explorer offers a way to retrieve data from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory and sort it by facility, chemical, geographic area, or industry. This inventory was ordered by Congress to inform the public of their exposure to substances that cause environmental health problems.
EPA's My Environment is a searchable database that enables users to find out about the quality of air, water, land, climate, energy and health associated with a particular location. Students can enter a zip code, city name, community, or park to learn about environmental quality.
EPA's TRI Explorer offers a way to retrieve data from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory and sort it by facility, chemical, geographic area, or industry. This inventory was ordered by Congress to inform the public of their exposure to substances that cause environmental health problems.
EPA's My Environment is a searchable database that enables users to find out about the quality of air, water, land, climate, energy and health associated with a particular location. Students can enter a zip code, city name, community, or park to learn about environmental quality.
