Via Zoom - Environmental Justice / Eco Justice Exploration
2-Part Event - Tues Eves March 26th and April 2nd
Zoom link will be emailed to you before the course starts
REGISTRATION closes Tuesday 6:30pm March 26th; Register here.
What - 4 hours of training provided as a community breakout part of SJC's Certificate Program In Urban Sustainability where we have invited the public to join this 2-part discussion during our Module 2 - Envionmental Justice / Eco Justice class discussions.
SJC offers this Certificate Program annually and this year is the10th anniversary of our award winning program !
We thought to open this one module to the community given that both the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Projection (NJ DEP) have designated the City of Jersey City as an Environmental Justice (EJ) municipality.
The implication of being designated an EJ community means there are cumulative impacts related to environmental issues that are effecting the public health outcomes of people who live and work here.
Where - VIRTUAL VIA Zoom
When - 2 consecutive Tues Evenings March 26thth - April 2nd;
Time - 6:30-8:30pm
Price - FREE
Detailed description of the 2-session discussion below -
Module 2 - Environmental Justice / Eco Justice Exploration - 2 Sessions (4 hours) Instructors – David Larrabee & Ashwani Vasishth Session Dates: March 26th & April 2 th
Session 3 – Understanding Environmental and Eco Justice Concepts and Frameworks.
This section starts by laying out the fundamental ethical roots of sustainability thinking exploring the relationship between societal justice, ecology, and economics.
An Environmental Justice or EJ approach lays emphasis on the implications of societal decisions upon communities that lack economic and political power. Globally this includes: “less developed, under-developed or developing countries,” indigenous, tribal and aboriginal peoples, as well as otherwise marginalized communities.
Eco-justice looks at ethical and moral issues through the lens of economics, ecology, and social justice considering systematic changes, lifestyle changes, and the pursuit of reconciliation. “Eco-justice is the journey … It is the emerging, demanding, promising reality with which human moral agents must come to terms if there is to be a good and viable future for people and the planet.”[1] .
This confluence of poverty and cumulative impacts of pollution gives rise to the verified claim that poorer communities disproportionately carry the burden of environmental issues (pollution, climate change, water quality, etc.)
The economic basis of environmental injustice derives from several sources.
1. The cost of land is linked to the desirability of that parcel of land. Poor people can only afford to live on “affordable” land. Polluting activities (landfills, incinerators, factory farms, etc) are almost always located on this cheaper, less desirable land.
2. Poorer communities lack the political power, economic power, and visibility (to decision makers) to prevent the choices that harm their community.
3. Some countries lack the resources to enforce environmental regulations that prevent the exposure of poor people and cheap labor to environmental dangers. This lowers the cost of business which is attractive to companies seeking to lower labor costs. This is facilitated by the globalization of the world's economies.
4. Segregating the poor and environmentally hazardous activities into a common area results in the increase in property values of the remaining areas.
While highly contaminated toxic sites (representing what is called point-source pollution) are certainly a threat to the environment, it would serve us well to not take our eye off what is called “area source pollution.” Here there are many sources of pollution, each responsible for a very small amount of the pollution of concern. But cumulatively, these sources—which permeate an entire area—can prove significant as hard-to-regulate but dangerous phenomena.
These issues are present in all places on the globe, including Jersey City. Of the 114 Superfund sites in New Jersey, five are located in Hudson County. Jersey City has its own share of chromium-contaminated sites, making brownfield development a challenge. As elsewhere, low-income and politically marginalized communities—traditionally
under-represented in the political and economic decision making process—bear the brunt of the burden in environmental health outcomes. An historical case study of the development of the chromite ore processing industry in Jersey City illustrates how an industry that benefited the country as whole was located in low-income and marginalized communities which bore the brunt of the environmental impact. It also illustrates how that impact continues to this day on the same communities, after the industry has left.
Students will be invited to work on a case study, in preparation for Session 4.
[1] Eco-Justice the unfinished Journey, William E. Gibson editor ©2004 State University of NY Press page 295
David will assign the Chromium case study, and students will view a recorded conversation about cumulative impacts between Nickie Sheets and Ashwani Vasishth.
Session 4: Local Perspectives on Environmental Justice
This session will cover the history of Environmental Justice in New Jersey over the past 20 years, including challenges and victories, as well as a vision and opportunities for the future.
Environmental Justice is now a household word, but it wasn’t always so. EJ activists and advocates have worked tirelessly for over 20 years to bring Environmental Justice into the spotlight in New Jersey. Now, New Jersey is leading the way nationally with strong infrastructure, policy and practice in environmental justice with Newark’s Cumulative Impact Ordinance and the State Environmental Justice Law.
The US EPA defines environmental justice as:
… the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.
There can be no sustainable future without addressing the environmental injustices in the past and present. We will review some of the issues within Jersey City and the surrounding area. In the past some guest presenters have been invited into this session, this is also a possibility for 2024.
A quick overview of the EJ related initiatives taken by Sustainable Jersey City will be presented.
At the end of the session the students will reflect on the case study on chromium contamination of Jersey City.
David Larrabee, SJC Board Member Community Education Team Co-Lead dlarrabee@gmail.com
Ashwani Vasishth, SJC Board Member, Community Education Team Co-Lead vasishth@ramapo.edu
