Environmental justice in the balance
The case for pursuing civil rights and climate policy in tandem has been oversold
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS ago this month the United Church of Christ published a report that inspired a movement. Entitled “Toxic wastes and race in the United States”, it documented what activists had long claimed. Hazardous-waste sites were so likely to be found in non-white neighbourhoods that the race of the local populace was the most reliable predictor of their whereabouts. Three in five black and Hispanic Americans lived near toxic sludge. One of the study’s architects, Benjamin Chavis, a former aide to Martin Luther King, termed this “environmental racism”.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Environmental justice in the balance”
United States January 29th 2022
- Justice Stephen Breyer retires after almost 28 years on the Supreme Court
- Eric Adams unveils his blueprint to help New York tackle violence
- Claims of insider trading in Washington spur efforts to stop it
- A ballot fight over sports gambling in California has high stakes
- America’s elected coroners are too often a public-health liability
- Sensible policy on psychedelic drugs is growing more common
- Environmental justice in the balance
From the January 29th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from United States
Tom Homan, unleashed
America’s new border czar spent decades waiting for a president like Donald Trump
An unfinished election may shape a swing state’s future
A Supreme Court race ended very close. Then the lawyers arrived.
Donald Trump cries “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown
His executive orders range from benign to belligerent
To end birthright citizenship, Donald Trump misreads the constitution
A change would also create huge practical problems
Ross Ulbricht, pardoned by Donald Trump, was a pioneer of crypto-crime
His dark website, the Silk Road, was to crime what Napster was to music