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Tribal Hunting Student Files |
Justice Conference Confronts Criticisms
By Kevin S. Minoli
“You cannot separate the environment and the community.” This was the message spread by Kevia Jeffery, community organizer for the Environmental Justice Action Group (EJAG), at the Fifth Annual Grassroots Environmental Justice Conference in Eugene.
Sponsored by the Coalition Against Environmental Racism (CAER), this year’s conference featured environmental justice leaders from around the world. The theme of the conference was “We Speak for Ourselves! A Call for Change.” From the keynote address by Dr. Owens Wiwa (leader of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni Peoples) that highlighted international environmental justice issues, to Jeffery’s comments about environmental justice in Portland, the conference demonstrated that the search for environmental justice has spread far beyond its birthplace in the American South.
One undercurrent that flowed throughout many of the presentations was the backlash against environmental justice advocates. This backlash, which is surprisingly similar to the reasoning used by opponents of mainstream environmental groups, rallies around the accusation that all environmental justice gains come with a price. The price in this case, opponents claim, is a loss of jobs.
Several industry leaders proffer this myth to residents of the communities in which they wish to do business. Justice opponents have found unlikely supporters in local governments (including the National Coalition of Mayors) and chambers of commerce. In fact, all 50 states have opposed the EPA’s application of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to environmental justice complaints.
The facts of the environmental justice movement, however, demonstrate that the environmental redlining which opponents warn us about has never come to pass. Speaking as part of the Title VI panel, Luke Cole from the Center for Race, Poverty and Environment in San Francisco pointed out that no Title VI administrative complaints have resulted in the denial or delay of a facility or factory. In fact, of the 270,000 permits issued in the past five years, only 70 have been the target of a Title VI complaint. Of that number, only 17 have been accepted as valid complaints by the EPA.
Even if environmental justice advocates were shutting down jobs, argued Susana Almanza, they don’t hurt the community that would have received the new factory or incinerator. Almanza works with People Organizing in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER) in Austin, Texas. The people of color in Austin are not only geographically separated from the rest of the community, but are also physically separated by a multi-lane highway. The part of the city with the highest percentage of people of color has 65% of the city’s industrial growth. When looking at unemployment, however, the rate for Austin as a whole is only 3.5%, while the rate for neighborhoods with people of color (and that house the industries) is 15.8%. In other words, the communities of color that are targeted for the siting of new facilities are not getting the jobs. These individuals demonstrated a basic tenet of the environmental justice movement: community residents are the best experts on the condition of their neighborhood and their environment.
Amidst all the numbers and demographic studies, it was sometimes easy to lose sight of the real issue: we cannot separate any community from its environment. I was reminded of that issue by Yolanda Sinde of the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice. Speaking as part of the Urban Environmental Justice panel, Sinde gave the most convincing reason to advocate for environmental justice, whatever the cost: “I don’t want to die for anybody’s job.”