Environmental Justice / Environmental Racism

"Racism is the intentional or unintentional use of power to isolate, separate and exploit others. . . Racism is more than just a personal attitude; it is the institutionalized form of the attitude"

-National Council of Churches Racial Justice Working Group

Now all of the issues of environmental racism and environmental justice don't just deal with people of color. We are just as much concerned with inequities in Appalachia, for example, where the whites are basically dumped on because of lack of economic and political clout and lack of having a voice to say "no" and that's environmental injustice.
-Dr. Robert Bullard

New Study: Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty: 1987-2007
Released March 2007 by the United Church of Christ.
(Report is 5.3 MB PDF... click here for a less graphics-heavy 1.1 MB version)
(Also, see press release and related information.)

Key Documents:

Principles of Environmental Justice (printable PDF version)
(Environmental Justice Platform adopted at The First People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit)
Principles of Working Together and Principles of Alliance with Green Groups
(developed at the Second People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, in 2002)
10 Principles for Just Climate Change Policies in the U.S.
Bali Principles of Climate Justice
Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing
Cerrell Associates report (showing that industry targets specific types of communities)
The Toxic Threat to Indian Lands

General Background on Environmental Justice:

Environmental Justice: An Interview with Robert Bullard (Earth First! Journal)
Excellent articles by Dr. Michael Heiman:
- Race, Waste, and Class: New Perspectives on Environmental Justice
- Waste Management and Risk Assessment: Environmental Discrimination through Regulation
Risk Assessments vs. Alternatives Assessments / Applying the Precautionary Principle - Who get the benefits and who get the risks? Who decides?

Environmental Justice Websites/Resources:

Environmental Justice Resource Center
Environmental Justice Resources
- Fighting Enviromental Racism: A Selected Annotated Bibliography
- Environmental Inequality Bibliography
Scorecard.org Environmental Justice Maps
Energy and Environmental Justice
Is Water Fluoridation an Environmental Racism Issue?
Toxic Targets: Polluters That Dump on Communities of Color Are Finally Being Brought to Justice (E Magazine)
Pollution-Weary Minorities Try Civil Rights Tack (New York Times)
Center for Diversity and the Environment (effort to diversify the mainstream environmental movement)

U.S. Government Environmental Justice Policies

Not In My Backyard: Executive Order 12,898 and Title VI as Tools For Achieving Environmental Justice (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Oct 2003)
President Clinton's Executive Order on Environmental Justice
Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations (11 February 1994)
Council on Environmental Quality's Environmental Justice Guidance
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
(Note: EPA isn't very environmental, to put it mildly, but these sites include some good resources and background as well as information on how they claim to be addressing environmental justice concerns)

Last modified: 2 December 2007

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