Environmental Justice and Our Cities

Our guest blogger today is Thomas Wong, a resident of Monterey Park and also on the city's Environmental Commission. He shares how "being green" is not just "saving the planet," but also very much a justice issue for our low-income neighbors.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Recycle. Turn off the faucet. Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Change out your old light bulbs for CFLs. Carpool. We are reminded of many simple steps we can take to ‘green’ our lives, and even save some money, every single day. However, caring for the environment is about more than just wasting less and saving money. Often, many don’t realize that environmental issues are also social justice issues.

This past July, a number of high-level federal environmental officials came to the San Gabriel Valley to hear residents and community leaders share some of their concerns. Among the many thoughts conveyed, one of the most poignant was expressed by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. In her remarks, she reminded the audience that environmental protection is really, simply, community protection. When we work to make sure our air is clean, our water is safe, and open space is available, we’re working to make sure that the physical environment does not threaten or diminish the quality of life of our communities. Caring for the environment is really about preserving and enhancing the health and welfare of our families, friends and neighbors.

Sadly, the poor and disadvantaged often suffer disproportionately from environmental hazards and degradation. When an area is polluted, it is the poor who lack the ability to relocate and are left with few resources to mitigate the effects. When decisions about land use and development are made, the needs of the poor are overlooked because they lack the ability to organize and communicate effectively. The poor—commonly ethnic minorities—are set at a disadvantage because they are often unaware of environmental risks due to cultural and language barriers, among other reasons, and are often marginalized because of their lack of economic and political influence.

Looking around at the San Gabriel Valley, landfills and industrial areas that are associated with increased pollution levels and health risks are often located in lower class neighborhoods that lack the resources to fight them. A few years ago, USC came out with a study that linked serious long-term health effects with living next to freeways, especially among children. Because of the general complaints about freeways, those who can afford to stay away or move away from them usually do, leaving the poor to bear the brunt of the harm.

When going down streets in neighborhoods of varying socio-economic backgrounds, streetscapes and sidewalk quality are tell-tale signs of the disparities that exist between the haves and have-nots. Compare posh stretches of Colorado Blvd in Pasadena to some of the harsher stretches of Garvey Ave. in El Monte. In largely ethnic communities like those in the San Gabriel Valley, especially with large working-class foreign-born populations, outreach and education on environmental risks and solutions is challenging but essential.

As we seek God’s Kingdom here on earth, we cannot ignore the role we have to play as Christians to call out and work to root out environmental injustice when we see it. Let us go beyond simply greening our habits. As we walk around our neighborhoods, let us pay closer attention to our physical environment and its serious effects on our community. And let us engage with our leaders to call out injustice that exists and advocate for equitable solutions to the environmental threats that our community faces.