environmental justice

From injuries caused by lead poisoning to the devastating effects of atmospheric pollution, infectious disease, and industrial waste, Americans of color are harmed by environmental hazards in staggeringly disproportionate numbers. This systemic onslaught of toxic exposure and institutional negligence causes irreparable physical harm to millions of people across the country--cutting lives tragically short and needlessly burdening our health care system. But these deadly environments create another insidious and often overlooked consequence: robbing communities of color, and America as a whole, of intellectual power. The 1994 publication of The Bell Curve and its controversial thesis catapulted the topic of genetic racial differences in IQ to the forefront of a renewed and heated debate. Now, in A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer Harriet A. Washington adds her incisive analysis to the fray, arguing that IQ is a biased and flawed metric, but that it is useful for tracking cognitive damage. She takes apart the spurious notion of intelligence as an inherited trait, using copious data that instead point to a different cause of the reported African American-white IQ gap: environmental racism--a confluence of racism and other institutional factors that relegate marginalized communities to living and working near sites of toxic waste, pollution, and insufficient sanitation services. She investigates heavy metals, neurotoxins, deficient prenatal care, bad nutrition, and even pathogens as chief agents influencing intelligence to explain why communities of color are disproportionately affected--and what can be done to remedy this devastating problem. Featuring extensive scientific research and Washington's sharp, lively reporting, A Terrible Thing to Waste is sure to outrage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.

"For more than twenty years, Naomi Klein has been the foremost chronicler of the economic war waged on both people and planet-and an unapologetic champion of a sweeping environmental agenda with justice at its center. In lucid, elegant dispatches from the frontlines of contemporary natural disaster, she pens surging, indispensable essays for a wide public: prescient advisories and dire warnings of what future awaits us if we refuse to act, as well as hopeful glimpses of a far better future"--Provided by publisher.

Flint's water supply tainted with lead. Chicago s toxic donut. Louisiana s cancer alley. Corporate waste poisoning developing nations. These are all examples of environmental racism. Readers of this compelling anthology will be awakened to many examples of poor and minority communities that suffer physically emotionally and financially from living in a toxic environment. With no political clout and few available resources these victims find themselves abandoned by the environmental movement and bullied by environmental policies. The burgeoning environmental justice movement argues that environmental protection is a basic right. After reading the informative viewpoints in this volume students will come to their own conclusions.

A collection of essays that examines various issues regarding the environment and sustainable development and their relationship to one another, discussing climate, water, biodiversity, food, population, energy, transportation, waste, and more.

"22 essays explore wide-ranging themes, including redefining materialism and environmental justice, assessing the risk and promise of technology, and celebrating place..."--Provided by publisher.

Contains fifteen essays that debate issues related to environmental problems in poor and minority communities and the argument that environmental protection is a basic right.

Contains fifteen essays that debate issues related to environmental problems in poor and minority communities and the arguement that environmental protection is a basic right.

Discusses the ways that the outcomes of environmental court cases can contribute to social injustice by putting more burdens upon disadvantaged communities.

An in-depth examination of the toxic waste industry and the economic logic behind its expansion that focuses on the struggle of the people of Mercer County, Missouri, who fought against the plans of Amoco Waste-Tech to establish a huge toxic waste landfill in their county.

An examination of environmental racism, the practice of locating environmental hazards in communities with high levels of poverty and/or non-white populations; discussing how the actions of grassroots activists, lawyers, and concerned citizens succeeded in bringing the problem to national prominence.