Global Environmental Issues

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Recommended: General essay on environmental justice

In what ways has the distributive approach to achieving environmental justice been problematic in western nations?

Environmentalism first arose in the early 20th century with its main focal point aimed at wildlife preservation and wilderness protection. These goals were originally based on the original enthusiasts, who were usually made up of privileged whites who wished to spend their leisure time enjoying the outdoors (Bullard, 1992). However, in achieving environmental justice many minorities and working class people felt secluded and negatively affected. In many western nations many problems arose as low-income minorities were secluded from the environmental movements, thus leading to environmental discrimination, this caused an unequal distribution of employment, education and health services as well as an unequal distribution of environmental harms (Steger, 2009).

The distributive approach was set in place to allow adverse effects of the environment to be avoided at all costs and the protection of ones chances to be placed at an environmentally hazardous area shared equally among the nation; however, this was not always the case (Silveria, 2001) . Due to a lack of socioeconomic status many communities in low income areas suffered high levels of industrial and hazardous waste pollution, or where forced to move due to economic development (Atik, 2004). As the rate of environmental distribution injustice increased, citizens started to band together and dispute against the government with picketing, demonstrations, political pressure and protests. This caused a major uproar within the community and the government as citizens where now creating more problems for the government, with groups such as Not-In-My-Back-Yard (Ni...

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...rett, Roy. "Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice ." Environmental Ethics 20.II (1998): 377-391. Print.

Silveira, Stacy J. (2001), Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review (Boston, MA), http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lwsch/journals/bcealr/28_2-3/07_TXT.htm

Steger, Tamara and Richard Filcak. 2009. Articulating the basis for Promoting Environmental Justice in Central and Eastern Europe. Environmental Justice: Volume 1, Number 1.)

Taliman, V. (1992), "The toxic waste of Indian lives," Covert Action 40, Spring, 16-22.

United Church of Christ, Commission for Racial Justice (1987), Toxic Wastes and Race in the U.S.: A National Report on the Racial and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste Sites, UCC Commission for Racial Justice, New York, NY.

Washington Toxics Coalition (1990), "Toxic waste and race," Alternatives 9(2):5.

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