Agyeman Continued: Chapter 1 Environmental Justice

After reading chapter one, I regret not having read this chapter before reading chapter four Just Sustainability in Practice. Chapter four provides a hopeful view of Just Sustainability by providing real examples of the theory in practice. Chapter one on the other hand gives a broad overview of the origins of environmental justice, which is the umbrella movement that has brought ideas of justice and equity into our national discourse about the environment and sustainability.

As Agyeman explains in chapter one, environmental justice as a movement has several foundations including the civil rights movement, the antitoxics movement, Native Americans struggles, the labor movement, and the traditional environmental movement. The modern day environmental movement, based upon several other social movements, began as the result of grassroots community organizing that was then supported by these established movements. “Grassroots environmentalism” was communities of colors’ way of expressing their demands for equality and justice in environmental issues facing their communities. More specifically, these communities expressed the need for municipal governments and environmental organizations to help alleviate the unjust and unequal burden of environmental problems imposed upon communities of color. Agyeman outlined the national political efforts to address environmental injustice and how the environmental justice movement has used these policy initiatives to further their missions and goals. As Agyeman explains Clinton’s Executive Order 12898, for example, forced federal agencies to adopt policies that address and reduce environmental injustice and inequity, which elevated the movement from grassroots organizations to national commissions. Beyond Clinton’s Executive Order, environmental justice advocates have a number of policy tools which allow them to implement change in communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental problems. These policies include but are not limited to the Civil Rights Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. In this chapter, Agyeman also addressed the importance of involving community members in the process of analyzing environmental risk and setting research agendas. By engaging communities in a community-based participatory research initiative scientists and environmental experts can further equalize the process of addressing environmental issues. Finally, Agyeman attempted to define Environmental Justice Policy, which he admitted was a rather difficult thing to do. Using the definition of Environmental Justice, he explains the growth of the Environmental Justice Movement. He argues that the growth of the movement is directly linked to the way that environmental justice ideas have been framed, because groups have been mobilized around this framing. More specifically, Agyeman defines Environmental Justice Policy as policy that incorporates procedural justices (involving all people affected), substantive justice (giving people the opportunity to enjoy a clean and healthful environment, and distributive justice (distributing environmental benefits equally to all people). By framing Environmental Justice in a way that seeks to determine the causes and remedies of injustice in a way that resonates with the identity of the people affected, the leaders of the Environmental Justice movement have fostered the immense growth of the Environmental Justice movement.

The most useful part of this chapter was Agyeman’s critique of the environmental justice efforts in the metro Boston area. The low income communities in the Mystic River Watershed only have access to polluted air and water due to the industries that poison their communities. The state government has implemented Environmental Justice Policy on both the law and policy levels. Though these efforts are progressive, Agyeman argues that have fallen short by failing to integrate policy and actually improve conditions rather than just sustaining them. Agyeman’s final point is extremely applicable to our studies. It seems that Agyeman in this chapter is suggesting that Environmental Justice has deep historical roots and it is growing movement that has potential to implement positive change. His critiques of Boston’s efforts help me as a student recognize the shortcomings of this type of work. As a planner one should be seeking to improve rather than simply maintain. Furthermore, the discussion about community-based participatory research, though slightly glazed over, was very applicable. As a student, I have always been interested in processes that engage and involve community members in community work. Environmental Justice is certainly no exception. By addressing the environmental issues that residents feel are the most pressing, researchers and scientists can do their part in creating environmental justice.