Environmental justice: Grass roots reach the White House lawn
When 500 demonstrators gathered in 1982 to protest the siting of a polychlorinated-biphenyl landfill in predominantly black Warren County, N.C., cries of environmental racism filled the air. In response, District of Columbia Congressional Delegate Walter Fauntroy requested that the General Accounting Office investigate a possible link between hazardous waste landfill siting and the racial and socio-economic mix of surrounding communities. The environmental justice movement, as it is known today, had been born. Environmental justice is conceived as the right of all people--regardless of race, ethnicity, culture or income--to live in a healthy environment, breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat uncontaminated foods. The concept assumes that everyone is entitled to fair environmental protection without any population segment bearing a disproportionate pollution burden.
- OSTI ID:
- 46031
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Solutions, Vol. 8, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: May 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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