Core environmental justice vocabulary and how policy decisions affect communities unequally.
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- What is environmental justice?
- Fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, or income in environmental decision-making and distribution of environmental harms and benefits.
- What does environmental racism refer to?
- The disproportionate placement of environmental hazards and polluting facilities in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.
- Define cumulative environmental burden.
- The buildup of multiple environmental stressors (pollution, hazards, climate impacts) affecting a single community over time.
- What are frontline communities in environmental policy?
- Neighborhoods and populations that experience the greatest exposure to environmental hazards, pollution, and climate impacts.
- What is procedural justice in environmental decision-making?
- Fair and inclusive processes that give affected communities a genuine voice in environmental policies and decisions.
- Define distributive justice in environmental policy.
- The fair allocation of environmental benefits and burdens across different communities and populations.
- What is recognition justice?
- Acknowledgment and respect for the values, knowledge, and concerns of all communities in environmental decision-making.
- What are fence-line communities?
- Residential areas located directly adjacent to industrial facilities, refineries, chemical plants, or other pollution sources.
- What is environmental gentrification?
- The displacement of lower-income residents from neighborhoods due to rising property values after environmental improvements or greening projects.
- How do zoning laws contribute to environmental injustice?
- Residential zones for low-income communities are often placed adjacent to industrial and polluting zones, concentrating environmental hazards where vulnerable populations live.
- What are Superfund sites?
- Heavily polluted sites designated by the EPA for federal cleanup, which are disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities of color.
- Why is lead exposure an environmental justice concern?
- Lead paint and contaminated water pipes disproportionately affect older, lower-income housing where marginalized communities live, causing severe health impacts especially in children.
- What is a just transition in energy policy?
- A policy approach ensuring workers and communities dependent on fossil fuel industries receive economic and social support as society shifts to clean energy.
- What are environmental health disparities?
- Unequal exposure to environmental hazards leading to worse health outcomes for marginalized populations compared to privileged groups.
- What does NIMBY mean in environmental justice?
- Not In My Back Yard, when affluent communities successfully block unwanted facilities while less powerful communities lack the ability to refuse them.
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