Environmental Literacy:
Environmental Justice
JoAnn Carmin
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Streams in Environmental Sociology
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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
Participation
Mobilization
Stratification
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
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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