AI Earth Summit — Environmental Injustice
In my previous article on weather and disaster resilience, I discussed Hurricane Harvey as an example of the natural disasters facing our world today. I also posited that natural disasters disproportionately affect minorities and underprivileged communities; however, I did not delve deeper into this when addressing the problem of natural disasters, because it is a problem that merits its own article. Environmental injustice should not be seen as a subsection of larger issues — it is a headline on its own.
The environmental justice movement (EJM) addresses a painfully clear statistical fact: people who are primarily exposed to the United States’ most polluted environments are commonly underprivileged people of color. The EJM advocates for the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people when it comes to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
With this definition in mind, it is no surprise that this movement is heavily entwined with the civil right movement. While our history is tinged with environmental injustice, it became a national social and racial protest that galvanized communities across the country in the 1980s. At the time, the town of Warren County, North Carolina, was to host a hazardous waste facility. Seeking social justice and environmental protection, the members of this small, predominantly African-American community began a protest.
Ultimately, these protests were unsuccessful for Warren County; however, they did spark what would later become the EJM. Following the Warren County protest, people in poor minority communities established groups to fight environmental burdens that were the result of targeting by industrial activities that threaten the environment and those activities which produced high rates of environmental illness. This movement empowered small, low-income, and minority communities across the nation to make their voices heard. It also served as the impetus for the Environmental Equity Group and a number of studies designed to measure the connection between race and hazardous waste-siting decisions.
Despite this forward progress, we still see environmental injustice today, and it is being compounded by climate change. Climate change is the perfect example of the failure to internalize the costs of pollution. Over the course of my article series, I have highlighted some of the tangible impacts of the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — extended drought and wildfire seasons, loss of biodiversity, and increasingly intense storms. The costs associated with these impacts are being borne by communities and taxpayers rather than by the large-scale generators of greenhouse gases — and we have failed to adopt a legal/regulatory scheme to internalize those costs.
In addition, while climate change impacts are being felt across the planet, low-income communities are often hardest hit and the least equipped to adapt and respond. In Texas, and certainly along the Gulf Coast, low-income neighborhoods are often located in low-lying areas, adjacent to industrial sites, and lacking in adequate infrastructure. While flooding was a predictable impact of a storm like Harvey, an equally predictable impact of Harvey was the release of toxic pollution into nearby neighborhoods.
Which begs the question: why are these communities bearing a disproportionate amount of the global climate crisis burden? It is not due to lack of information or knowledge about these threats. The evidence is clear that climate change is making storms stronger. It is also clear that low-income communities of color in Houston and elsewhere are more exposed to toxins from the petroleum industry.
These communities bear a burden that no one else will. Not because of ignorance, but rather a failure to recognize and address the impacts our actions are having on the environment and public health. The topics to be be discussed at the AI Earth Summit are global issues; however,, we cannot forget that the populace does not feel these issues equally.
Tech Talk: https://sustainability-techtalk.eventbrite.com
Techstars Startup Weekend: https://aila-techstars.eventbrite.com
Chloe Grubb is a senior in Robotics at Olin College of Engineering who has focused her time in user-centered (UX) design. She hopes to bridge the gap between engineering and design to create impactful experiences for users. Over the past four years, she has dedicated these skills to addressing the need for increased environmental awareness. Spearheading a Climate Action semester at her school and piloting a start-up, Drina, to allow users to make environmentally conscious decisions highlights her desire to utilize UX design to engage and excite people in the changes that need to happen for environmental stability. Being a contributor to AI Earth Summit is the next step in her environmental action involvement.
