SMU – PHIL 3379 – ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS – FALL 2023 – JEAN KAZEZ – eesmu.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 14, 2023

MODULE 2: Environmental Racism

 AGENDA

  1. Introduction to Module 2: Environmental justice
  2. Examples of disparities

Environmental Injustice

Environmental injustice involves different racial, ethnic, and economic groups living with unequal environmental burdens and benefits.

Note 1: "Involves" because there may be more conditions that must be met before we should speak of of "injustice" 

Note 2: This is the type of environmental injustice most commonly discussed.  To differentiate from other types, we could call this "distributive environmental injustice."  

Plan
  1. Disparity examples (Sept 15, Bullard) 
  2. Is it really racism? Is it really injustice? (Sept 18 Bullard, Cole & Foster)
  3. Other theories of environmental injustice--not racism, but rather ______ (Sept 20 & 22 Wenz & other theories he discusses)
  4. Should environmental justice be a priority for environmentalists? (Sept 25 & 27 DeLuca, Jamiesen)
  5. Access to nature--is unequal access to nature an injustice? (Sept 29 debate)
    • racial, ethnic, and economic groups 
    • disability and age-based unequal access
 


Disparities

Cases in which different racial, ethnic, and economic groups live with unequal environmental burdens and benefits.

A. WASTE SITES IN HOUSTON (Bullard, "The Moutains of Houston")


  1. 1979--white city council plans "Whispering Pines" landfill in Northwood Manor, a middle class 82% Black neighborhood in Houston
  2. A class action suit was filed against the city--Bean vs. Southern Waste Management
  3. Dr. Bullard, a sociologist, was asked to study waste patterns in Houston to support the plaintiffs
  4. Blacks made up 25% of Houston's population, but 100% of landfills were in Black neighborhoods
  5. Other waste management sites also disproportionally in Black neighborhoods
  6. "This city siting pattern in turn set the stage for private waste disposal firms to follow" in later years. (Bullard p. 2)
  7. Also talks about incinerators, waste transfer stations, recycling facilities (dirty vs. clean), illegal dumping, the priorities of white-led environmental groups like the Sierra Club
  8. What did you learn from this article?
B. OTHER DISPARITIES--DR. BULLARD'S TALK AT SMU
  1. Heat islands (36, 40)
  2. Aftermath of natural disasters (45)
  3. Living near petrochemical plants and heavy industry (25-29)

C. BLACKOUTS IN TEXAS, FEB 2021 (NYT) (More info) (more photos)






E. LIVING NEAR GREEN SPACE (source for image below) (NYT article)



Next Reading: Cole and Foster, Environmental Racism
  1. Three arguments that the disparities are not racist
  2. Cole and Foster's rebuttals of these arguments