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In "From the Ground Up", Luke Cole and @SheilaRFoster shed light on a disturbing pattern in the location of toxic waste facilities in the #US: these are disproportionately located in minority and poor areas. This is an instance of #EnvironmentalRacism. (1/11)
The book shows how the #EnvironmentalJustice movement, through protest and legal action, challenges #EnvironmentalRacism and demands an equitable distribution of environmental hazards. (2/11)
In contrast to the traditional environmental movement, the #EnvironmentalJustice movement finds root in the civil right movement, the struggle of #NativeAmericans, as well as #GrassrootsActivism against specific toxic waste facilities. (3/11)
The unfair distribution of toxic waste facilities comes in part from the private sector. Firms deliberately chose sites for dumping facilities in minority and poor areas, assuming that they will face less resistance in such communities. (4/11)
#BlackLivesMatter
#Racism
#BlackLivesMatter
#Racism
The passivity of the state also enables #EnvironmentalRacism. The legal processes of authorisation of toxic waste facilities consider only geological and environmental factors and remain blind to socio-economic and racial factors, failing to ensure #EnvironmentalJustice. (5/11)
But the affected communities are not passive victims. The book traces the stories of legal action against toxic waste facilities. Not only are these lawsuits often successful, environmental activism also empowers the communities. (6/11)
#FightClimateInjustice #ClimateAction
#FightClimateInjustice #ClimateAction
#EnvironmentalRacism is not limited to the US. Although least responsible for it, marginalised communities are the first and most affected victims of the #ClimateCrisis. This includes #IndigenousCommunities such as the Saami people in Sweden. (7/11) https://350.org/peoples-dossier-arctic/
#EnvironmentalRacism is also entrenched in global structures of exploitation, for example the exportation of plastic trash to Asia and Africa, and the pressuring of African countries to lower their environmental standards. (8/11)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/climate/oil-kenya-africa-plastics-trade.html #AfricaIsNotADumpster
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/climate/oil-kenya-africa-plastics-trade.html #AfricaIsNotADumpster
The #EnvironmentalJustice movement is a key inspiration behind today's calls for #ClimateJustice. But issues of diversity exist in the #ClimateMovement. We must actively identify and address these problems. What are the obstacles to participation and how can we lift them? (9/11)
The #EnvironmentalJustice movement shows that there is no climate justice without racial justice. Tackling the #ClimateCrisis requires dismantling local & global structures of racial discrimination, domination and exploitation. (10/11) https://grist.org/fix/opinion-if-you-care-about-the-planet-you-must-dismantle-white-supremacy/?fbclid=IwAR3Ek9TEfOURgZJdSJ2quurXd7HhPc5Wn1fZD_2X2jqZyYLtqqt_ZRlh5iU #NoMoreEmptyPromises
Reviewed text: Luke Cole & Sheila Foster. (2001). From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement. New York University Press.
