Environmental Justice for All

The articles this week discuss the problem of lack of justice, environmental justice for certain segments of the population. Primarily, people of color and those living in the inner-cities face a greater chance of exposure to pollution and environmental contamination than those in suburban, middle class neighborhoods. According to Konisky, Scholars have conducted scores of empirical studies evaluating whether areas with larger numbers of minority and lower-income populations are disproportionately
subjected to environmental burdens. On balance, there is now good evidence to support claims of inequities both in the location of polluting facilities and in the exposure to pollution (Ringquist, 2005).

Most improvements to open space and environmental clean up are directed toward the predominately white, middle class neighborhoods. These suburbs ignore the inner city issues at their own peril because the suburbs are only as prosperous as their city center. If the inner city dies, it won't be long before the suburbs follow.

The readings indicate that Bill Clinton attempted to address this issue. President Clinton's executive order in 1994 directly addressed how federal agencies should look at environmental justice issues for the programs pertaining to human health and the environment, to ensure that no race or segment of the population was taking a greater burden than anyone else. Since then there are improvements on the federal level, but the readings indicate that the trickle down effect to the programs of state and local agencies are still behind.