ABOUT EEA
Environmental Problem-Solving

Environmental Problem-Solving

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, environmental impacts disproportionately result in poor people being more likely to be exposed to environmental hazards and related health burdens. In addition, past policies have had a lasting adverse impact on some neighborhoods more than others.

Environmental educators can help students learn about environmental impacts scientifically; understand the factors that contribute to disproportionate health burdens, including economics and public policy; and provide opportunities for student problem-solving and decision-making that can make a difference in the world. 

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Patterns of Pollution  
Click images to learn more about these case studies

Some communities are exposed to more air pollution than others, due - in part - to proximity of low income neighborhoods to industrial areas.

Housing loan policies once limited where people of color could live (a practice known as redlining) and still affects those neighborhoods because the lack of street trees contributes to an "urban heat island effect."

 

From coal ash to mine tailings to asphalt shingles, poor communities have often become dump sites for toxic waste that was created elsewhere.