Environmental Racism And Environmental Justice Movement In United States

The minority communities have always been major victims of the urban pollution in United States.A few reports show that racial and ethnic communities have faced more environmental risks than any other groups;moreover,they are facing racial discrimination in environmental policy and the unequal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.Environmental racism has become the common phenomenon in American society,and it had been a big health threat to the minorities.With the develpoment of the civil rights movement and the connection of each area,the minorities in growing numbers are beginning to realize their difficult situation.To get rid of this kind of condition,people of color started to involve into environmental justice movement in the 1980 s.The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Justice defines this 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."The environmental justice movement has come a long way since its beginning from Warren County Protests in 1982.When the North Carolina state decided to bury a large number of toxic waste in rural Shocco Township in Warren County,this decision came under criticism almost immediately,residents of Warren County and national leaders of civil rights and environmental groups made public appeals.Warren County Protest has aroused nationwide attention,and it exposed the existence of environmental racism for the first time.After this issue,many minority communities began to fight for their equal environmental rights.This paper is divided into four parts.The first part mainly introduces the existence of environmental injustice phenomenon in United States,and minority communities take more environmental risk than any other groups.The second part and the third part are the core of this paper,which give a detailed introduction to environmental justice solution taken by grassroots and governments at all levels.Environmental justice movement spring up from grassroot society,many people including minority communities,national leaders of civil rights and environmental groups,scholars and college students,they establish environmental justice organizations,call for public appeals,file lawsuits and covene conferences to get healthy environmental and equal environmental right.Except these grassroots,government at all levels also take active measures to promoting the further development of the environmental justice career.Federal government take a few federal Actions to address environmental justice in minority populations,for example Congress passed laws and bills,president issued executive orders and EPA set up specialized environmental justice workgroups.President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12898 in 1994,Cliton’s action is arguably the most important step to occur in the environmental justice movement in its history.Local governments also imitate federal government’s action,they take different environmental justice policies,some states established environmental justice Statewide Advisory Board or environmental justice offices,some states enacted several environmental justice bills and so on.At the same time,the courts at all levels try to make fair judgments to correct racial discrimination in environmental policy.Governments at all levels and courts promot the further development of the environmental justice career with the grassroots.The fourth part mainly summarizes the influence of environmental justice movement,expounds on what predicament the environmental justice movement is facing to,and why.Environmental justice movement combines environmental hazards with civil rights,it has had profound impacts on two older movements in the United States-the environmental and civil rights movements.Although environmental justice movement has achieved huge success,it still faces some problems.Congress reject to pass environmental justice laws,the Supreme Court established the standard of "discriminatory intent",residential segregation in U.S.housing market and so on.These situation make environmental justice movement still have a lot of work to do.