Chapter 2: The Story of Environmental Justice and Race in the United States
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
12-2018
Editor(s)
Austin Sarat
ISBN
9781316648117
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Language
en-US
Abstract
Environmental injustice remains a significant problem in the United States. In Louisiana, communities of color are concentrated in an industrial corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Petrochemical processing plants line this corridor. Called “Cancer Alley” for the prevalence of disease and premature death among local residents, the corridor hosts hundreds of processing facilities, including one of the world's largest oil refineries. Exposure to environmental contaminants is segregated along lines of race and class. Communities of color in the United States have complained against polluting industries, opposed the permitting of new industry projects, and called for investigations and interventions. Victims of rights violations associated with environmental pollution presently have little recourse as avenues to seek remedy in US courts have narrowed. Legal doctrines that require intentional discrimination to recognize an abuse render it increasingly difficult to resolve claims of environmental racism in court. This chapter seeks to demonstrate that international human rights instruments can be instructive and that developments in international policy on business responsibility and human rights could hold promise for communities of color in the United States seeking environmental justice. Activists and affected communities could find other avenues more receptive to recognizing the reality of environmental racism.
Part I of the chapter defines environmental justice and deconstructs public debates on environmental racism and environmental justice in the United States. It discusses the emergence of claims of environmental racism and the evolution of the environmental justice movement. It presents evidence of the disproportionate impact that pollution has had and that climate change is expected to have on communities of color in the United States. It also offers a critical examination of the consequences of moving public discourse away from environmental racism toward environmental justice. Part II of the chapter provides an overview of the international human rights legal framework and efforts to define human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as relevant to realizing environmental justice in the United States. Part III of the chapter provides an overview of the domestic civil rights legal framework relevant to the formulation of environmental justice claims. After a discussion of how international human rights treaties are treated by US courts, it surveys environmental racism litigation. The impact of the intent requirement on equal protection and disparate impact claims of racial discrimination related to environmental protection is also examined. Next, it examines the efficacy of initiatives by other branches of government to address environmental injustice from the perspective of people involved in the creation and implementation of programs developed to address adverse impacts of environmental harms on people of color communities. Specifically, executive orders and administrative agency actions are reviewed for content informed by international norms. Part IV presents representations the US government has made to international human rights institutions with respect to environmental justice. It also presents how communities affected by environmental injustice have relied on international institutions for recognition of rights claims. The chapter concludes with a caution that race-neutral, color-blind approaches to disparity in environmental protection are inconsistent with international norms and do little to advance environmental justice. It calls for a more inclusive environmental justice movement to embrace concerns of racial justice and to look to further define the obligations of a range of actors beyond the state to respect environmental human rights, including business enterprises.
Recommended Citation
Erika George,
Chapter 2: The Story of Environmental Justice and Race in the United States
,
in
Human Rights and Legal Judgments: The American Story
12
(Austin Sarat ed.,
2018).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3828
