Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice

“Another world is possible. But only if we all get busy and clean up this one.”

God created this earth and all of us, giving each of us an equal share. With the passage of time, the greed of man has increased and what we witness today is that a part of our species is being discriminated against in terms of a healthy environment. Mostly these discriminatory practices involve a disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on the people of colour referred to as environmental racism. Environmental Racism is the intentional placement of hazardous waste sites, landfills, incinerators, and polluting industries in communities majorly inhabited by the people of colour. These are environmental policies, practices or directives that differentially affect or disadvantage individuals, groups, or communities based on race or colour. The communities of colour are generally targeted because they are perceived as weak and passive individuals who will not revolt against the poisoning of their environment fearing an obstacle in their economic survival.

Practiced majorly in the United States, environmental racism has donned a global face. The injustices range from South Dakota where Native Americans are the primary targets of waste disposal, responsible for cleaning after the whites exposing themselves to threats of health and life to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India, where a gas leak destroyed the lives of 1000s of individuals for generations. These two examples among many show a clear picture that government and industries fulfill their greed at the cost of health and lives of the people of colour owing to their vulnerability and being politically inactive, giving rise to an environmentally unjust society. Not only are these communities exposed to environmental hazards but also they are ripped off of the available resources holding a potential for their future developments. This doubly disadvantages the people of colour, leaving them economically as well as environmentally degraded retarding any scope of development.

To bring about an end to the injustices faced by the people of colour, the environmental justice movement began in the United States and soon it spread around the globe. The Environmental Justice Movement is about trying to amend the lives of those 1000s of individuals who have constantly faced environmental inequalities due to their respective race. The movement seeks to address the issues of power imbalances and disproportionate impact of hazards and aims at developing a healthy and sustainable environment for all. The environmental justice movement works with the environmental issues affecting the communities of colour who have been a part of discriminatory patterns of housing, land use, transportation, employment, etc. creation of a physically and psychologically healthy, and economically and ecologically stable environment appears to be the unifying theme of the environmental justice movement.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental justice as “Fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, colour, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. In a very short period, environmental justice has evolved tremendously. It is involved not only in addressing issues of environmental racism but has also offered a maturing vision for the future developing a holistic society having a healthy and sustainable environment. This includes a world based on environmental protection, pollution prevention, integration of urban public policy and government accountability to the public.

Despite significant improvement in environmental protection in the recent years, about 1.3 billion individuals worldwide still live in environmentally unsafe habitats. Dumping of hazardous and toxic wastes still poses a global problem on the lives of millions of communities of colour. The systematic destruction of habitat of indigenous people is simply a way for big industries to fill their pockets. Even after stringent conditions, the OECD countries dumped about 2,611 metric tons of toxic waste into non OECD countries risking the lives and creating health issues.

In spite of the obstacles in the path, the number of encounters, conferences and publications about environmental justice continue to increase. Communities of colour are no longer solely dependent on government intervention to achieve an environmentally just society. An excellent example in this context would be of the citizens of Louisinia who fought against the dumping of Nuclear trash by accusing the Louisinia Energy Services (LES) of practicing environmental racism. The courts finally judges in favour of Louisinia Blacks upholding the essence of environmental justice. Issues of environmental justice are also being taken up by different groups united by, among other realities, being people of colour, having low income and needing to confront the issues related to their health and environment. The effective participation of each individual making a personal effort is sure to bring about a change in the world we live in making it safer and environmentally just for our generations to come.

Nikita Tandon