Module 5: Environmental Justice

The environmental case written by Paul Siersma, a student at the University of Michigan, addresses the environmental injustice towards the Huaorani Indians of Ecuador by a US oil company.  The report can be found at http://www.umich.edu/%7Esnre492/paul.html .  In the early 1990s the Ecuador government sold the right to excavate oil in the Ecuador rainforest to a US oil company.  The rainforest that the Huaorani Indians not only live in, but also depend on for a means of existence.  No matter how negatively this situation affects the Huaorani, the Ecuadorian government, the US government, and the US oil company has the power to do what they will with the Huaorani land.  This is an example of environmental injustice where the powerful entities negatively impact the local residents in the name of development.  The people of Chester PA struggled with a similar situation when powerful companies kept dumping trash in their town.  When the Huaorani complained about the injustice of the deforestation of the rainforest the oil company was suspected of being involved in the death of a tribesman. 

            The second case study is from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The link is http://scholarworks.umass.edu/anthro_faculty_pubs/5/ once there, click download in the top right corner of the screen.  The case study is on the various environmental injustices that are done to the Roma people (a division of Romani people whose origins are in Northern India) in central and Eastern Europe. The Roma people are the poorest of the poor and are racially discriminated against on an environmental basis.  Studies show that four environmental injustices are commonly found in their communities.  These include "exposure to hazardous waste and chemicals, vulnerability to flooding, differentiated access to potable water, and discriminate waste management practices" (Environmental Justice in Roma communities pg. 17).  These people are exposed to almost every form of environmental injustice that was covered in module 5.  Most cases of environmental justice are cases of environmental racism where the poor are exposed to unhealthy end uses resulting from the development of richer countries, towns, and communities. 

            The US military has a strong presence in Hawaii, with over 100 bases that stretch over 200,000 acres of land and are occupied by more than 150,000 personnel.  The native Hawaiians are always the last being considered when land and resources are doled out.  Most of the time it goes to the military because of the price the government can pay for the land.  Hawaiians are forced to give up land that is rightfully theirs, land that their homes are built on, land that is often sacred to them and they receive no retribution for it.  This situation is very similar to that of the Huaorani Indians.  Environmental racism can be seen in Waianae, which is located on the west coast of Oahu and is considered a very low-income part of the island.  This is where the majority of the homeless live on the beaches, many of the apartments are section 8, and where one of island's largest landfills is located.  Waianae seems to be the dumping ground for the island because it is low income and out of the way.  In order to properly develop Hawaii environmental justice needs to actually be applied as opposed to just talking about it.