Environmental Inequality
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/05/division-inequality-key-fighting-climate-change
Monday, December 1, 2014
Article 2
Not in Whose Backyard?
This article began with a very interesting concept. The
article possess to the reader we contemplate this analogy. The country spends a
tremendous amount of money protecting areas which most of the human population
does not visit, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is great in
the sense that we are attempting to protect our earth and our animals. However,
it questions that we are spending large sums on such areas, but we are doing
nothing to protect areas in which humans not only visit daily but live there!
These areas are low-income minority population communities. According to the
article, African Americans are 79% more likely than whites to live in
communities with high pollution levels. Pollution levels so high they cause
health risks. African American and Hispanic children also have the highest lead
poisoning rates!
These statistics are being provided by the article, however
we are able to see them in action during many of our class discussions. This
touches the same bases as in the book Diamond. Diamond, a community with a
power plant that caused much harm to its residents, is a perfect example of
this concept. African Americans were
oppressed by the Whites from Norco and corporate officials. They were dying of
health hazards caused by the power plant, due to lack of regulation. More
importantly, the lack of care for the Diamond Residents, as they were a
minority.
Little, Amanda. "Not in Whose Backyard?" New York Times (2007): n. pag. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02wwln-essay-t.html?fta=y&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A13%22%7D&_r=0>.
Article 1
A Clash of Ideals and Investments at Swarthmore
Fall of 2010 Kate Aronoff from Swarthmore
College and a dozen other students took a field trip to West Virginia. This field
trip was intended to meet who environmentalist referred to as “Keeper of the
Mountains”, Larry Gibson. The first sight upon their arrival was the sight of
land covered by mountain top removal coal mining operations. Aronoff commented,
“We saw and heard about how toxic the coal mining industry is and how much
of the economy is structured around coal mining. It was a moment when the
connection between economic injustice and environmental injustice was just so
clear.” (Stewart, 1)
Many educational
institutions have now changed the areas in which they invest their money. For
example Stanford University stated their $18.7 billion endowment would not part
take in investments with companies whose primary business is coal mining for
energy generation. This has occurred with eleven other colleges as well.
However, Swarthmore College has been hesitant to involve itself. The irony here
is Swarthmore prides itself on social justice. The chairman of Swarthmore’s
board stated, ““There’s no lack of admiration for their idealism. They want to
make a positive difference in the world, which is Swarthmore’s mission. The
frustrating thing, the ironic aspect is, the board is as much a believer in the
threat to us and our children from climate change as the students are. Where we
disagree are the tactics. After much deliberation, the board came to a
different point of view.” (stewart,1)
This article
caused very mixed emotions. Upon beginning my read on it I was very glad to see
the student body making a positive difference, however I was saddened to see
instances like this where such a positive impact is shut down by higher up
officials. This tends to happen in many instances when dealing with
environmental injustices and many other injustices. I am led to believe the
reasoning is always money and greed. As we have discussed many environmental
injustices in class, they all relate to cheaper production, exploitation of our
earth and labor, and in essence they all revolve around money.
Stewart, James B. "A Clash of Ideals and Investments at Swarthmore." The New York Times (2014): n. pag. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/business/a-clash-of-ideals-and-investments-at-swarthmore.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A13%22%7D>.
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