Environmental Justice Issues Research Articles

Exploring the professional discourse on environmental social work: a descriptive content analysis of selected publications from Germany and the US

Climate change and its disproportionate impacts on vulnerable groups have prompted the social work profession to become increasingly involved in environmental justice issues. Academic discourse on environmental social work has surged in the last decade, but limited studies examine its implementation by practitioners or information dissemination by professional organisations. Translational research highlights the crucial role of professional associations in informing practitioners of new scientific discoveries and practice paradigms. This qualitative content analysis compares a small selection of articles and podcast episodes published through the professional associations of social workers in the US (the National Association of Social Workers) and Germany (the Deutscher Berufsverband für Soziale Arbeit e.V.), respectively, focusing on environmental social work and its implications for the social work profession. The findings suggest that publications from both countries use similar arguments for proving the relevance of climate change issues for the profession but diverge considerably in their focus on how environmental social work should be applied.

Lovely tents: a Jewish ecospiritual perspective on urban homeless encampments

ABSTRACT Engaging with Jewish texts through a lens of ecospiritual social work provides a framework to incorporate housing rights and homelessness into ecospirituality. This article deploys a Jewish Ecospirituality perspective to consider the issue of urban homeless encampments as a spiritual and environmental justice issue. This article incorporates biblical interpretation and ecospiritual perspectives to situate a Jewish understanding of ecospirituality. It draws connections between the diasporic history of the Jewish people and the displacement found in urban park encampments utilizing Jewish environmental ethics and ecospiritual social work theory to deconstruct the rightful use of public space in the context of urban citizenship.

Persistent Environmental Injustice due to Brake and Tire Wear Emissions and Heavy-Duty Trucks in Future California Zero-Emission Fleets.

The adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) offers multiple benefits for the climate, air quality, and public health by reducing tailpipe emissions. However, the environmental justice implications of the nonexhaust emissions from future ZEV fleets for near-roadway communities remain unclear. Here, we model the on-road fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions across all California counties and assess the near-roadway exposure disparities at the census block group level in the Los Angeles County in 2050, when almost all passenger vehicles are projected to be ZEVs. We found that promoting zero-emission heavy-duty trucks generates more air quality benefits for disadvantaged communities than light-duty passenger vehicles. Persistent disparities in near-roadway PM2.5 levels, however, exist due to the remaining brake and tire wear emissions and increased truck traffic in disadvantaged communities. We recommend implementing fleet-specific ZEV policies to address brake and tire wear emissions and optimizing freight structures to address these persistent environmental justice issues in California.

Can Mindful Politics Be Meaningful Politics? Socially Engaged Buddhism as a Political Project within a Liberal Political Order

Throughout the Western political world, and particularly in the United States, contemporary Buddhist political thought has largely become synonymous with the movement of mindful politics, also known as Socially Engaged Buddhism. Focusing primarily on issues of social, economic, and environmental justice, mindful politics has found a natural ally in Western left-wing and progressive movements to the degree that Buddhist political thought in the United States is now seemingly indistinguishable from these Western political positions as a practical matter. While the practical alliance of Socially Engaged Buddhism and progressivism is well established, what is less clear is what the movement of mindful politics brings to this relationship beyond its Buddhist veneer. By basing its political project on the secularization of Buddhist compassion (karuṇā), mindful politics fails in creating a political project which can be compelling to those outside of the confines of Buddhist religious belief and practice. While the mindful politics movement and contemporary liberal progressivism share an overlap in policy commitments, the religious roots of Buddhist mindful politics ultimately preclude it from properly aligning with the pluralistic requirements of the prevailing liberal political order. This article will examine the foundations of Socially Engaged Buddhism and explore the standing of the possibility of Socially Engaged Buddhism as the foundation for a political project within the confines of a liberal political order.

Addressing Challenges to Ensuring Justice and Sustainability in Policy and Infrastructure for Texas Water Resources in the 21st Century

Environmental justice and sustainability have both become major concerns for water resource management, particularly with recent federal emphasis on environmental justice under the Biden administration in the United States. Texas, like many U.S. states, lags behind the federal government in this emphasis. While many localities have made progress in some respects—for example, some major Texas municipalities have included equity and sustainability metrics in their recent climate action plans—others have not. This has left a patchwork of persistent water management and availability issues that are exacerbated by extreme weather and worsening impacts of climate change. We provide a review of many of Texas’s water equity and sustainability challenges, both now and in a more extreme climate future. These include water access, affordability, contamination, flooding, drought, and aging infrastructure. For example, many Texas counties rank highest in the nation for flood risk, including coastal counties with high populations of disadvantaged communities and counties containing populations that live in persistent poverty in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Additionally, approximately 44,000 Texans, or about 0.4% of the state population, lack access to complete plumbing facilities in their homes. The costs of water infrastructure leaks (estimated at about 51 gallons of water per day statewide) are shared across customers of all income levels, though they place a disproportionate burden on low-income customers. We then assess existing statewide and local policy and planning efforts and gaps in addressing these concerns in Texas. We focus particularly on the role of efforts to incorporate community voice—the ideas, concerns, needs, and expertise of impacted community members, dismantle causes of injustice, and improve equity in spending. If communities are not intentional with future development, new water infrastructure could continue to perpetuate existing harms. Thus, we provide a research agenda and recommendations for addressing some of the policy and planning gaps and persistent environmental justice issues. We aim to help water managers and policy makers identify and dismantle sources of inequity, particularly through including community voice.

Mobile laboratory measurements of air pollutants in Baltimore, MD elucidate issues of environmental justice

ABSTRACT The City of Baltimore, MD has a history of problems with environmental justice (EJ), air pollution, and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Current chemical transport models lack the resolution to simulate concentrations on the scale needed, about 100 m, to identify the neighborhoods with anomalously high air pollution levels. In this paper we introduce the capabilities of a mobile laboratory and an initial survey of several pollutants in Baltimore to identify which communities are exposed to disproportionate concentrations of air pollution and to which species. High concentrations of black carbon (BC) stood out at some locations – near major highways, downtown, and in the Curtis Bay neighborhood of Baltimore. Results from the mobile lab are confirmed with longer-term, low-cost monitoring. In Curtis Bay, higher concentrations of BC were measured along Pennington Ave. (mean [5th to 95th percentiles] = 2.08 [2.0–10.9] μg m−3) than along Curtis Ave. just ~ 150 m away (0.67[0.1 – 1.8] μg m−3). Other species, including criteria pollutants ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), showed little gradient. Observations with high spatial and temporal resolution help isolate the mechanisms leading to locally high pollutant concentrations. The difference in BC appears to result not from heavier truck traffic or slower dispersion but from the interruptions in traffic flow. Pennington Ave. has three stoplights while Curtis Ave. has none. As heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles accelerate, they experience turbo-lag and the resulting rich air-fuel mixture exacerbates BC emissions. Immediate mediation might be achieved through smoother traffic flow, and the long-term solution through replacing heavy-duty trucks with electric vehicles. Implications: We present results documenting the locations within Baltimore of high concentrations of Black Carbon pollution and identify the likely source – diesel exhaust emissions exacerbated by stop-and-go traffic and associated turbo-lag. This suggests solutions (smoother traffic, retrofit particulate filters, replacement of diesel with electric vehicles) that would enhance Environmental Justice (EJ) and could be applied to other cities with EJ problems. Synopsis: This paper presents observations of atmospheric black carbon aerosol showing impacts on environmental justice, then identifies causes and suggests solutions.

Alternative futures “in the making”: Insights from three makerspaces in peripheral Greece

The great environmental and social challenges of recent decades have questioned the hegemony of growth-oriented development and its objectives. Those critiques reexamined growth-based policies and strategies, leading to ‘alternative development’ pathways, the most prominent being sustainable development. Nevertheless, critical scholars have problematized those perceptions and practices, repoliticizing the question of development, connecting it with issues of social and environmental justice and supporting ‘alternatives to development’. Building on such perspectives, primarily the degrowth literature, this paper connects alternatives to development to the question of space, analyzing the practices of three makerspaces in peripheral Greece, as potentially alternative economic and political spaces. It explores how an alternative normative framework appears in these spaces; and illuminates practices connected to commons, care, and community as seeds for the emergence of holistically alternative futures. That way the study cherishes sustainability perspectives that problematize social and environmental justice and do not propose only technical solutions, but deep political transformations and normative shifts in the ‘here and now’.

The Essence of Marxism and Anarchism from the Labour Theory of Value to the Critique of Political Economy

ABSTRACT The ills of global capitalism, the critical issues of climate change, global warming, and environmental justice, have all collectively continued to generate concerns, with the world itching for alternate ideological solutions. This article aims to provide a comprehensive critique of the amalgamation of Anarchism and Marxism as a theoretical framework for addressing contemporary world development challenges. While both ideologies share common ground in their critique of capitalism, this paper argues that their synthesis even though may fall short in adequately addressing the complexities of today's globalised and interconnected world might offer a realistic pathway to the contradictions of capitalism. To this end, this study interrogates the Marx-Proudhon debate on three major areas of differences or similarities, namely, (1) The Tyranny of Exchange Value; (2) Crisis in the Evolution of Capitalism and (3) Method of intervention; and their response to contemporary challenges. The method of analysis is essentially historical, providing an in-depth critique of the theoretical standpoint of both ideologies. We conclude that scholarly solutions to current global challenges should be approached with a view to adequately situate them within the ideological context. Thus a return to the Marx-Proudhon debate provides a path forward in our search for alternatives to capital.

Children’s explanations in at-risk zones: fostering hope through science education in Quintero-Puchuncaví Bay

ABSTRACT Considering the increasing severity of environmental disasters and the scarcity of studies centered on children’s perspectives, this article explores context-based learning to create spaces of hope. Constructing explanations fosters meaning creation and knowledge integration. Fourth graders’ self-explanations about contamination in a degraded area, known as an “environmental sacrifice zone”, were analyzed. The educational research design within a humanistic paradigm aimed to be responsive to participants’ needs. Children’s explanations were gathered through interviews and images. The qualitative thematic analysis identified three types of explanations and six causal factors. Some students did not recognize the local contamination despite its relevance to their daily lives. In contrast, others associated and contrasted the phenomena with earthquakes and tsunamis that could lead to disasters. The participants expressed socioscientific reasoning, revealing causal relationships, involving agents of damage, and highlighting environmental injustice as a consequence. Facilitating dialogues with children living in at-risk areas is interpreted as a restorative action in education and advocating for their right to be heard on matters that affect them. This article discusses the role of responsive research in context-based science learning, emphasizing the opportunities to mediate human actions and foster spaces of hope and awareness in connection with environmental justice issues.

From colonial conquest to climate crisis: reframing French maritime museums

ABSTRACT Maritime museums occupy a challenging position when it comes to confronting environmental and social justice issues linked to colonial modernity, understood as five hundred years marked by European colonial expansion and exploitation. As institutions that emerged to celebrate national maritime exploits and dominion over the seas, they embody many of the features of colonial modernity itself. In light of the climate emergency, this article examines two recently opened or renovated French maritime museums to analyse the extent to which they are reorienting their focus and embracing more critical, oceanic ways of thinking about human relationships with the sea. An oceanic perspective recognises the fluid, interconnected nature of the oceans and the need for more holistic approaches to environmental sustainability and climate justice. The analysis reveals tensions between nationalist perspectives and emerging efforts to tell more environmentally attuned stories. Significant scope remains for maritime museums to shift their interpretive frameworks towards the seas as entities worthy of preservation in their own right, rather than as resources to be managed for human use and profit.

Unveiling environmental justice in two US cities through greenspace accessibility and visible greenness exposure

Uneven access to greenspaces or visible greenness is an environmental justice (EJ) issue. In this paper, we use a social equity lens to develop geospatial models that measure convenient walking access to urban greenspaces such as parks and street-level green exposure en route to greenspaces. We utilized earth science, geospatial, and demographic datasets to develop two models—Greenspace Accessibility and Visible Greenness Exposure—and applied them in Camden and Jersey City, USA, two communities experiencing environmental injustices. Modeling results show that greenspace accessibility is a concern in both cities, with Jersey City experiencing more prominent disparities. We observed significant positive relationships in Camden between greenspace accessibility and two EJ variables: Black segregation and Hispanic segregation. Most streets in both cities have poor greenness exposure, although Jersey City faces higher inequality compared to Camden. We also observed significant negative relationships in Jersey City between street-level greenness exposure and low-income populations. We conclude the paper by explaining the implications of our findings for greenspace planning and policymaking.

Linkages among socio-economic status, green space accessibility, and health outcomes: An environmental justice perspective in Australia

Green space accessibility is a crucial environmental justice issue, which is influenced by socio-economic factors and may lead to disparate health outcomes among individuals. While numerous scholars have examined the association between green space accessibility and socio-economic status or health separately, research on the pathways linking these three dimensions remains relatively sparse. Using Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1) data from eight Australian capital cities, this study explores the pathways from socio-economic status to green space accessibility and subsequently to diverse health outcomes. The findings indicate the limited green space accessibility in some socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, particularly among ethnic minorities and in larger cities. Additionally, a significant association is observed between increased green space accessibility and reduced chronic diseases in the national capital and major global cities. Regarding spatial proximity, the study suggests that green spaces do not need to be immediately adjacent to residential areas but can be planned within reasonable walking distances to confer significant health benefits. These findings can inform the development of equitable green space planning policies and contribute to improved human health.

Mass Incarceration as an Environmental Justice Issue in the United States

Mass Incarceration as an Environmental Justice Issue in the United States

Uncovering an emerging policy direction for Australian energy and future fuels using a “participatory decision-making” framework

IntroductionAn online deliberative engagement process was undertaken with members of the general public to understand what they value or would like to change about the energy system, within the broader context of decarbonizing Australia's energy networks, identifying a role for future fuels (hydrogen and biogas). Citizens developed a set of principles that could guide Australia's path toward a low-carbon energy future, reflecting on expectations they place upon energy transition. Next, citizens' principles were shared with policy-makers in government and policy-influencers from the energy industry using an online interactive workshop.MethodsThis study analyses policy-makers and -influencers response to citizens' guiding principles using the 'diamond of participatory decision-making' framework for analysis. Convergence and divergence in diverse, complex and rich views across cohorts and implications thereupon energy policy were identified.ResultsAlthough considerable alignment between multi-stakeholders' views was noted, key areas of divergence, or what is called the “groan zone” were easily identified in relation to social and environmental justice issues. This groan zone highlights the struggles that energy policy-makers face -the need to listen and respond to citizens' voices, vs. the need for practical and workable policies that also support overarching government or industry objectives.DiscussionPolicy making when the views of different stakeholders align is relatively straightforward. However, this is not the case where the expectations diverge. More creative measures will be needed to address divergent views and expectations whilst maintaining procedural fairness, in this case, using democratic deliberative engagement processes. While the use of deliberative processes is gaining momentum worldwide, particularly concerning climate change and energy transition policies, this paper also highlights the benefits of conducting a robust post facto analysis of the content of the processes. Areas of alignment, where policy can be made and implemented relatively easily without contention are identified. Other areas (such as making electrification mandatory) might be more complex or have unwanted negative social and environmental justice effects. Overall, this paper bridges an analytical gap between “expectation studies” and participatory research. By borrowing terminology from a participatory research framework we sharpen the concepts in “expectation studies” from a consensus, inclusion and diversity standpoint.

Modeling Air Pollution‐Related Health Benefits of Transportation Scenarios: A Collaboration Between Academic Researchers and Environmental Justice Organizations

AbstractTransportation is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and has become a focus for climate policies. Traffic‐related air pollution disproportionately affects environmental justice (EJ) communities—neighborhoods that have disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards, but health impact assessments rarely center EJ issues or prioritize the concerns of EJ communities. One explanation for the lack of focus on EJ communities is that both policymakers and academia have often failed to engage these communities. In this paper, academic researchers collaborate with seven EJ organizations in the northeastern US, working with collaboration advisors and facilitators, to design and evaluate potential transportation emissions reduction scenarios using air quality and health benefits modeling tools. We model and estimate the benefits of these scenarios, while working to build collaborative relationships between academic researchers and EJ organizations. The two primary outputs from this process are: quantification of health benefits attributable to emission reduction scenarios of interest to EJ organizations, and enhanced trust and community building between academic researchers and EJ organizations, with reflections on strengths, challenges, and opportunities for future work. We find the largest improvements to health result from scenarios that reduce car and truck traffic. Dialog between academic researchers and EJ organizations reinforce the disconnect between regional‐scale models and local community concerns as well as the more general gaps between statistical models and lived experience. Despite these challenges, the collaboration led to more meaningful models and valued insight for community organizations, and we recommend comparable collaborations in other settings where pollution control is being planned and evaluated in EJ communities.

California dreaming: Why environmental justice is integral to the success of climate change policy

In the realm of climate policy, issues of environmental justice (EJ) are often treated as second-order affairs compared to overarching sustainability goals. We argue that EJ is in fact critical to successfully addressing our national and global climate challenges; indeed, centering equity amplifies the voices of the diverse constituencies most impacted by climate change and that are needed to build successful coalitions that shape and advance climate change policy. We illustrate this perspective by highlighting the experience of California and the contentious processes by which EJ became integrated into the state’s climate action efforts. We examine the achievements and shortcomings of California’s commitment to climate justice and discuss how lessons from the Golden State are influencing the evolution of current federal climate change policy.

Unequal exposure: An inclusive approach to teaching environmental justice

Environmental justice issues have been absent or downplayed in most environmental economics textbooks and classes. This omission is a lost opportunity to teach and extend core economic concepts while attracting a diverse set of students. In this article, the authors share different perspectives and teaching materials to introduce an environmental justice module into an environmental economics course. Their approach combines traditional economic concepts and methods with case studies and insights from other disciplines. This approach is proposed in the hope of advancing two goals. First, the approach aims to create a module accessible and appealing to a broader set of students than is traditionally represented in the economics discipline. Second, the materials help convey the relevance of economic ideas and analysis to real-world issues.

Understanding the Social Determinants of Household Carbon Emissions for Carbon Mitigation Policies: The Case of Mersin, Turkey

Households are the main consumer-side source of carbon emissions. In Europe, consumer-based CO2 consumption per capita fell from 10.8 tons to 7.8 tons between 1990 and 2022, but in Turkey, the same data showed a rise from 4 tons to 5 tons. Strategies to reduce carbon emissions have recently shifted their focus from the production side to the consumption side. However, because different social segments have varying levels of price sensitivity and differing levels of necessity regarding consuming different items, a simple tax policy only targeting the consumption side is doomed to fail. This has prompted a discussion of the factors influencing carbon emissions on the consumption side and how those factors affect the amount of emissions. This study aims to identify the social determinants affecting household carbon emission levels and to demonstrate that such differences play an important role in effective and efficient carbon emission reduction strategies. In this case study, an appropriate testing method was used to test whether there are significant differences in dependent variables (carbon emissions) between categories of independent variables (the social determinants of households). As our literature review demonstrates, the social determinants of households and the local context were found to have an impact on carbon emissions in the case study. Nevertheless, we found that the degree of association lessens when the relationship between the dependent variables and the independent variables is re-evaluated while controlling for income level. Consequently, it may be concluded that the primary element influencing carbon emissions is income. In our field study, on the other hand, poverty stood out as another important factor affecting the level of carbon emissions. Poverty affects total household carbon emissions in two different ways, causing both carbon-intensive consumer goods and household appliances with low energy efficiency to be preferred because they are cheap to purchase. Therefore, the fight against poverty should be recognized as an important component of carbon reduction policies in Turkey, and the issue of environmental justice should not be ignored, because we know that 30% of the population was living in poverty (compared to the other 70% receiving the national median income) in 2022.

Nexus between environmental justice and social work education: perspectives from the School of Social Work, McGill University, Canada

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the imperative for social work educators and professionals to integrate environmental dimensions into curricula and field practice purposefully. Advocates argue that this integration is vital for the profession to effectively contribute to social and environmental justice. Despite these calls, there is a paucity of scholarly attention to the extent of environmental justice considerations in social work curricula. In response, this study employs in-depth interviews with program directors and curriculum content analysis at McGill University’s School of Social Work to assess the inclusion of environmental justice issues. The findings reveal that these issues are marginally and superficially integrated into the curriculum. Despite this, interview participants express confidence in social work students’ ability to support clients facing significant environmental challenges. This study suggests broadening the traditional ‘person-in-environment’ concept in social work education and practice to encompass the physical environment.

Disparities of compound exposure of particulate matter (PM2.5) and heat index using citywide monitoring networks

As epicenters of environmental change, cities face multiple threats from environmental hazards, including poor air quality and extreme heat. The complex features of urban environments, such as varying landscapes and emission sources, significantly affect these phenomena. This study investigated the combined exposure to PM2.5 and extreme heat within Chicago, considering socioeconomic aspects to gage environmental justice issues. This study utilized high-resolution environmental datasets and Random Forest Spatial Interpolation (RFSI) to generate hourly Heat Index and PM2.5 maps at a spatial resolution of 250 m. The RFSI showed robust performance, with cross-validation R2 ranging from 0.78 to 0.98 (air temperature (Ta): 0.98, relative humidity (RH): 0.93, and PM2.5: 0.84) and RMSE from 0.84 to 5.4 (Ta: 1.09, RH: 5.40, and PM2.5: 0.84). With this result, this research visualized the spatial variations in extreme heat, as measured by the Heat Index and PM2.5 levels, and identified areas with critical exposure that are potentially harmful to the health of vulnerable populations. Furthermore, this study found the spatial disparities in exposure linked to socioeconomic factors by conducting a Welch ANOVA test. These findings can inform the development of targeted interventions considering the temporal-spatial disparities of heat and air pollution levels.