Environmental Justice
This entry was written in preparation for the second in a series of three videoconference meetings among Stanford students enrolled in the PWR 2 class "(R)evolutions in Environmental Rhetoric" and their CCR partners at Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law in the Russian Far East. The focus of this videoconference is "Global Environmental Issues."
Statement of Exigency.
Environmental justice is important for many reasons. First of all, from a social-equality point of view, we must make sure that with growing development, both environmental burdens and benefits are equally shared, especially considering everybody shares the environment. Many low income and urban areas are hit the hardest by environmental injustices. This has many global implications, such as health issues in areas within countries with poor representation such as China, Africa, and Latin America, not to mention many areas across the United States. Politically, change is strongest and longest-lasting when it has broad support across society, so getting the minority segments of society on board could help create real, lasting change.
Other issues with it include the importance of keeping open land open or protecting the land from unnecessary commercial/housing expansion, which left unchecked would lead to more environmental waste. Not to mention the lost natural landscape people could enjoy. One of our projects is on disease and the environment; short sighted manipulation of the environment can lead to the spread of diseases such as sickle cell anemia, so environmental policy measures ought to be put into place that prevent this manipulation.
All in all, there’s a visible disconnect between humans and how they value of the environment. Bridging this gap could lead to an increased awareness and action on environmental injustices and other initiatives. Human health, local and global economies, quality of life, and resources are all at stake in this case.
Our Research Topics.
Lucas: My research is on how environmental nonprofit organizations coordinate when working to further a political agenda. Sometimes organizations might value their internal interests over joining a coalition of other organizations pushing for a change in policy. I'm looking at what causes an organization to make those decisions. Nonprofits don't interact with minorities much, and since they have such limited resources already, they don't do a lot to reach out to them. However, if they could gain minority group support, it would help them push their political goals.
Jaslyn: My research this quarter is on sustainable agriculture. I want to poll consumer attitudes towards sustainable food choices as well as explore the drivers behind producers electing (or not) to employ sustainable farming practices. Currently, sustainable choices are often cost-prohibitive for the majority of the population. I am interested in how to make sustainable choices economical for a broader population.
David: My research follows the scientific process of a linking landscapes and infrastructure to biodiversity in the Green Dorm project and how these types of designs can be implemented into communities to promote species diversity. By looking up how communities regard certain values, we can look into how to make people care about environmental initiatives both scientifically and in terms of the injustice that occurs to communities.
Eric: My research is on how environmental manipulation can lead to the spread of disease. I have researched a case study in western Africa, where deforestation has led - through a series of cascading effects - to the establishment of a high frequency of sickle cell anemia. This blood disease can lead to organ damage and eventual death. With smarter environmental policies, we can prevent the spread of conditions like sickle cell anemia.
Our Point of View.
Since everybody shares the same environment use environmental resources, there is an issue in finding equity in what groups and individuals benefit from, suffer from, and use those resources. We face many challenges in implementing Environmental Justice. It can be difficult to work with (or against) institutional parameters that promote behavior and a mentality that disregard the environment. Oftentimes, it is not economical for people to embrace sustainable living practices, and culture may be slow to change even where economics are not a prohibitive factor. Enacting environmental policy requires time and resources dedicated to assembling data from science, masterminding policies that can have nationwide or international efficacy, and getting populations to unite behind policy.
Some of the underlying problems that beget these challenges lie in established cultural norms and individual attitudes that can be difficult or slow to change. On the individual level, individual’s thoughts on whether or not they can make a difference can be either paralyzing or enabling. Education is also of enormous import: it is important for people to realize why these issues do have exigency so that they will be driven to act. Environmental Justice is particularly interesting culturally, because although it is an international problem affecting everybody, environmental policy and attitudes vary with the values, geography, and interests of all the world’s populations.
Discussion Questions:
Comments
Dear Jaslyn, Eric and David!
I really enjoyed reading yor blog as well as discussing this topis with you during videoconference!
You touched a very acute issues on environment and that discussioan and brainstorming was not just interesting for me, it as very useful and practical!
I will reply to 3 questions here, in written form!:)
We do have some organizations that devoted to environmental causes but most of those organizations don't do it on permanent basis.They are doing other activities and environmental activities is just what they decided to do in addition or as volunteering!
Some students work during summer andactually get some payment for that. Th clan sreets and put bird-houses on trees! Some students do it s volunteers!
There is a n organisation calld obriy Gorod which means Kind City. people there do lots of community service and environmental activities are a part of that!
Hope to communicate with you again soon!
Best regards,
Elvira
Posted by: Elvira | February 18, 2009 07:09 AM