As a scientist, I am worried about the term environmental justice.\u00a0 Scientists measure things, amassing data to test hypotheses and observe trends. Environmental scientists know how to assess air and water quality by taking samples and analyzing them for chemicals that are known to be harmful.\u00a0 We know how to assess environmental health by examining statistics for the occurrence of the human condition and diseases associated with pollution, sometimes depending upon data from insurance claims to do so.\u00a0 We know how to protect habitat by measuring the area of lands or wetlands, and increasingly marine habitats, that are under preservation.\u00a0 We can even estimate trends in the populations of endangered species by field surveys.\u00a0 Fisheries biologists have done this for decades.<\/p>\n
The US Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice 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.\u201d I would like to believe that everyone understands and supports the concept of environmental justice, but how would we measure success in the endeavor?\u00a0 Sometimes a disparity index is calculated by dividing the fraction of a poor and\/or minority population in an area of interest by the fraction of that population in a reference area. \u00a0Even so, there is no widely accepted metric for how far from a ratio of 1.0 defines environmental injustice.<\/p>\n
What constitutes environmental justice seems inherently subjective, unlike a water quality standard that can be measured and monitored from field samples. For instance, what metric would tell us that an advocacy organization or government policy has made any improvements in environmental justice over time?\u00a0 Where can one draw a definitional boundary between the pursuit of environmental justice, as distinct from other forms of injustice that have been so long overlooked?<\/p>\n
I would hate to see environmental justice laid to rest beside sustainability in the graveyard of other subjective environmental descriptors.\u00a0 \u201cI know it when I see it,\u201d is not good enough.\u00a0 Answers to these questions are urgently needed to inform advocacy and policy efforts aimed to improve the environment for all peoples and to get the greatest return per dollar spent.<\/p>\n
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References<\/p>\n
Emanuel, R. 2017.\u00a0 Flawed environmental justice analyses.\u00a0 Science 357: 260<\/p>\n