Environmental Literacy:

Environmental Justice

JoAnn Carmin
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Streams in Environmental Sociology

• Human-environment relationship
• Risk perception and communication
• Environmental movements and organizations
• Corporate social responsibility
• Environmental governance and policy
• Environmental inequity and justice
Classic View of Environmental Injustice

Warren County, North Carolina

Photo: www.ncwarn.org/Campaigns/WarrenCounty/12-05-03WarrenCountyHistory.htm
 Environmental Injustice

Group bears a disproportionate share of the

negative environmental consequences resulting
from industrial, municipal, and commercial
operations or the execution of federal, state, local,
and tribal programs and policies (U.S. EPA, 1998)
 Disproportionate Burden

• Exposed community did not generate problem

• Exposed community receives marginal benefits
• Exposed community bears environmental burden
 Emerging Paradigm

• Classic
– Local concerns and local inequities
– Emphasis on race and class
– Focus on US, but some consideration of international locales

• Emerging
– Demand and consumption patterns in one part of the world
imposing a disproportionate environmental burden in distant
regions

Source: Friends of the Earth International

 Tales of Gold in the Hills:
Mining in Rosia Montana, Romania

Photo: www.truestory.ro
 Major Drivers of Disparities

• Demand for quality of life  Consumption

• Global dumping groups
• GHGs & climate impacts
• Demand for goods  Extraction
• Mining
• Bio-prospecting
• Demand for affordable goods/ profitability
 Workplace exposure
• Go tech! Go pork!
 Coming Full Cycle

– Pressure from demand

– Leads to government or corporate response
– Causing unequal burden
– That gives rise to public response
 Constellation of Considerations

Human Health Impacts Environmental Impacts

Cultural Survival

Politics and Policy Environmental Justice Stratification

Participation Mobilization
Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy:
Theory

• Justice as Equitable Distribution

– Theories of justice, political economy/ resource curse,
and globalization
• Justice as Recognition
– Theories of identity, social stratification
• Justice as Procedure
– Theories of public participation, participatory
governance, and collective action
Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy:
Environmental and Human Impacts

Local, national, and global impacts associated with:

– Technology development and transfer
– Production processes, outsourcing, labor standards,
Consumption
– Economic development and poverty alleviation
Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy:
Policy and Planning Tools

• International governance:
– International treaties and judicial procedures
• National policy, planning, and development
– Adoption of Aarhus Convention / Principle 10
– Laws and judicial procedures
– Market mechanisms
– Institutional and stakeholder assessments
– Social and environmental impact assessments
– Participatory decision-making
• Corporate social responsibility
– Voluntary programs, codes, and certification
– Good Neighbor Agreements