Environmental Justice for Whom?: A Social Construction Framework Analysis of Executive Order 12898

Abstract

People of color are overrepresented in communities with the poorest air quality and numerous pollution sources, and suffer disproportionate rates of asthma. Moreover, communities with the worst air pollution tend to have high poverty rates. Activists, scholars, and health and legal experts contend that the mere presence of inequitable environmental burdens and multiple exposures supports the belief that: (a) the health and lives of poor people and people of color matter little; and (b) their communities are incapable of, or less likely to, organize to prevent or end hazardous exposures. The social construction framework, built on the idea of benefit or burden allocation and the ability to exercise political power, serves as an apt lens for examining the interplay between societal perceptions of low-income people and people of color, and Executive Order 12898's content, implementation, and effectiveness. While symbolically and materially important, Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, is flawed, in part, because its creation and execution were influenced by negative social constructs. Further, Executive Order 12898's effectiveness has been hampered by the absence of statutory authority, funding, and consistent implementation. Rectifying federal-level environmental injustice, and associated health disparities, minimally requires: (a) negative social construction reversal; (b) the eradication of environmental health disparities to become as important to our society as curing cancer; (c) securing statutory (legal) authority for Executive Order 12898; and in general, (d) strong, unbiased, protective policies and interventions that are sufficiently funded.