Race and the Environment

One of the unfortunate misunderstandings about environmental politics is that it’s an issue of interest for the wealthy and the white–those for whom nature is a playgound they want the rest of us to pay to protect for them. There’s more than a kernel of truth to this in the history of American environmentalism over the last 125 years or so; the environmentalism of Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir and the present day reactionary environmentalism of Dave Foreman and some–but by no means all–factions of Earth First! seem to fit this stereotype to a tee.

But, of course, this is mostly nonsense. The significant bulk of environmental policy is overtly concerned with human health and welfare, and most environmental harms disproportionally harm the poor and the non-white. This is why it’s exciting to see that official Democratic rising star ™ Barack Obama not only has sterling environmental credentials, but has framed taken steps to reframe the issue in terms of social and environmental justice. This has been a major theme in grassroots environmentalism for over two decades now, but it has failed to register in the realm of mainstream environmental groups, and certainly in the realm of environmental policy. It’sworth noting that the second half of the 20th century saw immense, important and significant policy shifts on civil rights issues and environmental issues, but very little action at the intersection of these issues. Al Gore’s 1992 Environmental Justice Act was impressive, but it didn’t pass. The Clinton administration made some gestures in the direction of environmental justice, but they quite modest.

At any rate, this is more reason to be optimistic about Obama; it would appear the more you look at him, the more he appears to be much, much more that one good speech.

via Body and Soul, who have some good commentary on this as well.