Abstract
In response to the dominance of green capitalist discourses in Canada’s environmental movement, in this paper, we argue that strategies to improve energy policy must also provide mechanisms to address social conflicts and social disparities. Environmental justice is proposed as an alternative to mainstream environmentalism, one that seeks to address systemic social and spatial exclusion encountered by many racialized immigrants in Toronto as a result of neo-liberal and green capitalist municipal policy and that seeks to position marginalized communities as valued contributors to energy solutions. We examine Toronto-based municipal state initiatives aimed at reducing energy use while concurrently stimulating growth (specifically, green economy/green jobs and ‘smart growth’). By treating these as instruments of green capitalism, we illustrate the utility of environmental justice applied to energy-related problems and as a means to analyze stakeholders’ positions in the context of neo-liberalism and green capitalism, and as opening possibilities for resistance.
Highlights
While there are many streams of environmentalism in Canada, a discourse of green capitalism has increasingly dominated Canada‟s environmental movement and is widely endorsed by policy makers [1]
While this paper focuses predominately on Toronto and its surrounding region, we submit that the interactions between unsustainable energy use, immigrant communities, and the ideologies of neo-liberalism and green capitalism offer considerable explanatory power in understanding energy policy in other urban contexts
This paper contributes to the literature on environmentalism, environmental justice, and energy use and reduction in Canada by uncovering the extent to which the green capitalist approach has impacted how state initiatives address the energy needs of marginalized communities in Toronto
Summary
While there are many streams of environmentalism in Canada, a discourse of green capitalism has increasingly dominated Canada‟s environmental movement and is widely endorsed by policy makers [1]. Proponents of this view seek to add “environmentally friendly” values to the status quo liberal democratic ideals of Canadian society [2]. While this paper focuses predominately on Toronto and its surrounding region, we submit that the interactions between unsustainable energy use, immigrant communities, and the ideologies of neo-liberalism and green capitalism offer considerable explanatory power in understanding energy policy in other urban contexts
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