Along the energy justice continuum: An examination of energy disposal through the lens of feminist community based participatory action research

Cannon, Clare; Bonnell, Janae; Padilla, Mariah; Sulca, Debbie

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.102948

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…As an unincorporated township, the community does not have a strong voice in local or county governance structures. Such a lack of inclusion and meaningful representation means that decisions happen without the community being able to voice their concerns, needs, or opinions [ 43 ]. Compounding this lack of political representation is the intersection with ruralness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Being in a rural area means there are additional barriers, such as transportation, to participating in governance processes related to environmental injustices [ 60 , 61 ]. As a majority Hispanic/Latinx population, residents also report feeling discriminated against because of their ethnicity [ 43 ]. The lack of procedural access contributes to the distribution of environmental harms in the community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bringing these insights together, critical environmental justice with its four pillars—intersectional differences, multi-scalar frames, transforming institutions, and promoting indispensability—is key to both identifying examples of procedural, distributive, and recognitional injustice, particularly around toxic emissions, and providing a way forward for advancing justice in communities like Kettleman City. We see examples of this in a community response of resilience and uplift, with residents fighting for their rights to an environment that will not harm them [ 43 ]. The civil rights suit is one example of such a community response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The civil rights suit is one example of such a community response. The continued organizing, activism, and advocacy to both stop additional environmental hazards with their toxic emissions, like the re-permitting of the landfill, and calls on the local and state government to invest funds to remediate the harm that has been inflicted for nearly 50 years is another example of the community fighting back [ 43 ]. The struggle for justice from toxic emissions continues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, a pilot community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project that partners with communities to address their concerns about toxics was conducted. CBPAR is a kind of research in which researchers partner with community organizations in order to conduct rigorous and relevant research with an extended reach for science, the community, and decisionmakers [ 42 , 43 ]. In this study, researchers partnered with El Pueblo para el Aire y Aqua Limpia de Kettleman City (El Pueblo), an environmental justice organization in Kettleman City, and Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice (Greenaction), throughout the project—from identifying research questions to research design and data collection to the analysis and reporting of findings.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Critical Environmental Injustice: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Disproportionate Exposure to Toxic Emissions

Cannon

2024

Toxics

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Environmental justice research has focused on the distribution of environmental inequalities, such as proximity to landfills, across the U.S. and globally. Background: Public health research and environmental health research, specifically, have focused on toxic exposure—encompassing individuals or communities that are disproportionately exposed to contaminants that are harmful or potentially harmful to them. Yet, little research has applied critical environmental justice theory—characterized by the idea that marginalized communities need to be treated as indispensable rather than disposable—to the study of toxic exposure. To fill this gap, the current paper offers a case study approach applying critical environmental justice theory to the study of disproportionate and unequal exposure to toxic contaminants. Methods: This case study is of Kettleman City, a rural, unincorporated community in the heart of California’s Central Valley (USA). This community experiences the co-location of environmental hazards, including residing at the intersection of two major highways and hosting a class I hazardous-waste landfill, which is one of the few licensed to accept PCBs. PCBs are a contaminant that has been linked with several adverse health outcomes, including cancers and low birthweight. Residents may also experience poor air quality from proximity to the highways. Results: This case highlights the uneven distribution of pollution and environmental degradation that may be shouldered by the community, along with their experiences of adverse health and social impacts. This analysis reveals the importance of incorporating a critical environmental justice perspective to unpack experiences of not only disproportionate exposure but also disproportionate procedural and recognitional inequality. Conclusions: This research highlights the untapped potential of environmental justice to catalyze exposure science in challenging the unequal distribution of contaminants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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