Environmental Justice

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the environmental justice movement in the United States. The paper explains environmental justice or racism as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Outline
Introduction
Definitions, Beliefs & Concerns
Historical Accounts
Major Players
Resulting Policies and Decisions
Sample Cases
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The environmental movement has transmogrified into the environmental justice movement with the help of a creating reading of Title VI of the 1964 Civil rights legislation. A number of legal claims have been directed toward improving environmental qualities in the name of those struggling against environmental racism under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin in federally funded programs and activities. The basic argument is this: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides large amounts of federal funds to state environmental agencies. These state agencies, in turn, are the governmental bodies responsible for much of the nation's environmental policy--the enforcement of pollution standards, the permitting of waste treatment and disposal facilities and industrial polluters, and the citing of those facilities. If the actions of those federally-funded state agencies create a racially discriminatory distribution of pollution, then a violation of Title VI has occurred and a civil rights lawsuit is warranted." (Fisher, 1995)"

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• Research Paper # 61405 : "Environmental Justice"

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