Mitigating Environmental Racism
What has the community done?
Environmental justice is defined as the balanced deliberation and worthwhile involvement of all individuals in creating, executing, and regulating ecological rules, legislation, and guidelines, irrespective of ethnicity, color, the nation of birth, or earnings (Banzhaf et al.). Environmental justice protects people from inequities such as environmental prejudice. According to the EPA, the fundamental concept of environmental equality is that everyone is granted equivalent safeguards from ecological risks and threats, irrespective of ethnicity, color, the nation of birth, or earnings. Environmental racism is defined as ethnic bias in ecological legislation creating and enforcement, as well as the deliberate targeting of disadvantaged societies for harmful garbage infrastructure and the formal acceptance of the existence of life-threatening circumstances (Banzhaf et al.).
When it relates to environmental equality, society has played a significant role. People have modified how they utilize products and resources, thus reducing environmental damage while also saving money. Pollution mitigation results in fresher air and water, lesser garbage in dumpsites, preservation of natural assets, minimal soil degradation, reduced electricity and water expenses, and increased asset values (Dominelli).
What have allies from outside the community done?
The Atomic Energy Act established the Atomic Energy Commission to enhance the “maximum utilization atomic energy for tranquil purposes coherent with prevalent protection legislation, as well as general populace wellness and protection (Dominelli).”
Describe the policies in place at the local, state, or federal level that address environmental racism at the local and national levels.
Ever since the emergence of the OEJ, the EPA has made significant efforts to incorporate environmental equality into its day-to-day operations. The Environmental Justice 2020 Action Agenda (EJ 2020), the Environmental Protection Agency’s tactical scheme for advancing environmental equality from 2016 to 2020, is an essential component of the agency’s objective since it concentrates on ecological and community wellness concerns and difficulties that disadvantaged, limited-income, ethnic, and indigenous populaces encounter.
Identify some beginning ideas about how an intervention could occur at the individual and systems level (i.e., micro mezzo or macro-level).
Genuine environmental equality involves delegating choice-making power to marginalized communities who have been subjected to systemic environmental, racial prejudice. Persons and systems can contribute to environmental equality in a variety of aspects. First and primarily, self-education is critical, as is raising the voices of greatly influenced populations. This aid could take a wide range of aspects. If individuals are able, they can contribute straightforwardly to environmental justice agencies or volunteer their time. Furthermore, they should hold their delegates responsible and utilize their buying power to their gain. Before individuals make purchases, they should assess the firm’s environmental practices.
What are the barriers?
Racial prejudice, marginalization of minimal-income society representatives, unbridled capitalism, and industrial growth are all current barriers to environmental equality (McCauley et al.).
What has been achieved?
Environmental justice is a critical component of improving and guaranteeing a secure and healthful ecosystem for all individuals. It has aided those who have historically resided, worked, or played close contamination outlets. In 1982, activists in Afton, North Carolina, prevented the transportation of hazardous PCB trash to landfills. The environmental equality movement in the US has espoused for a wide range of causes, such as and nature preservation, asset sustainability, contamination diminution, and populace regulation (Barratt).
What are the failures and setbacks?
Environmental conservation regulations have frequently failed due to the following faults: they are ethnocentric in the sense that their primary objective is to safeguard and favor people instead of the ecosystem in which they reside. They presume individual supremacy and exceptionalism over the natural world, natural practices, and individual superiority over instinctual procedures.
What recommendations do you have?
In conclusion, policymakers and individuals have moral accountability to uphold their moral responsibilities by espousing regulations and strategies that encourage environmental equality, build viable societies, and decrease environmental deterioration triggered by human operations.
Work Cited
Spencer Banzhaf, et al. “Environmental justice: The economics of race, place, and pollution.” American Economic Association, 2019.
Bethany Barratt. “Greening the debate: timing, locality and participation in predicting success of environmental justice campaigns.” Www.inderscience.com, 2017.
Lena Dominelli. “Environmental Justice at the Heart of Social Work Practice: Greening the Profession.” Wiley Online Library, 7 Mar. 2013.
McCauley, et al. “Just Transition: Integrating Climate, Energy and Environmental Justice.” Economics and Finance Research | IDEAS/RePEc, 2 Feb. 2018.
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