What is Environmental Justice (EJ)?
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people–regardless of race, color, national origin, or income–in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.
What is Environmental Injustice?
When some communities often poor or marginalized bear a disproportionate share of environmental harms such as pollution or toxic waste.
What is Environmental Racism?
The targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities and pollution, plus their exclusion from decision making about environmental conditions affecting them.
How are environmental risks linked to race and class?
Hazardous sites and polluting industries are disproportionately located in low–income and non–white neighborhoods, showing systemic racial and economic inequality.
What are 2-3 examples of data showing this link?
1.Houston Waste Study (1979): 82% of city waste in Black neighborhoods.
2. GAO Survey (1983): 3 of 4 southern landfills near minority communities.
3. Toxic Waste and Race (1987): 3 of 5 people of color lived near toxic waste sites.
What evidence helped establish these links
*Bean V. Southwestern Waste Management Corp. (1979) - first EJ civil rights lawsuit.
*Community activism & protests like Warren County (1982).
*Government studies confirming racial disparities in hazardous waste siting.
How unequal was the risk distribution, and who was affected?
In Houston, 82% of waste dumped in Black areas (25% of population)
Nationally, most African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American communities lives closer to toxic sites than white communities.
The EJ movement grew out of which movement?
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s 1960s, expanding the fight for racial justice to include environmental rights.
What happened in Warren County, North Carolina (1982)?
Over 500 people were arrested protesting a PCB landfill in a rural, poor, mostly Black community - making the birth of the Environmental Justice Movement.
What is redlining?
A discriminatory housing practice where banks and the federal government denied mortgages in Black neighborhoods, creating segregated and under-resourced areas.
How did redlining lead to environmental injustice?
Redlined areas were later chosen for industrial facilities and wasted sites, trapping communities of color in polluted environments with limited mobility or investment.
What is the strongest predictor of toxic-waste-site location in the U.S.
Race - stronger than income, education, or region (confirmed by 1987 & 2010 studies).
How has the U.S. government responded to Ej issues?
1991: First People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit -> 17 Principles of EJ
1992: EPA Office of Environmental Justice created
1994: Clinton’s Executive Order 12898 -> EJ integrated into all federal agencies
2000s: Bush administration cut EJ funding.
2017-2025: Trump administration rolled back EJ protections (Project 2025)
2022: Inflation Reduction Act -> $60 billion for EJ initiatives.
What role does the sitting president play in EJ priorities?
Presidential leadership shapes EJ through executive orders, agency funding, and enforcement.
*Clinton: Expanded EJ policy
*Bush/Trump: Weakened or defunded programs
*Biden: RE-prioritized EJ (Justice40 & Inflation Reduction Act)
