The Problem of Accountability: Environmental Justice and the Trump Administration

Abstract

This article represents the first time that a rigorous evaluation of Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) current definition of environmental justice has been undertaken. This is a matter of some significance. Definitions not only reflect the historical understanding of an issue at the moment of formulation but can also affect practice. EPA's 30-year-old definition was actually formulated when its office had the ''environmental equity'' moniker. Hence, this article addresses the distinctions between equity and justice when examining the definition. In addition, it will speak of the definition's scope. This article concludes with suggested enhancements to the current definition and proposes a new working definition.

Minority faith and environmental justice

“…Kohl (2019, p. 4) argues we should not “write religion out” of academic consideration of the environment: “As academic researchers, we make decisions to emphasize certain aspects of identity and write out other aspects … it is not possible to engage with all axes of difference in a single research project, but when as a discipline we systematically write out one axis of difference, then we need to stop and reflect on what we are missing.” Given the lengthy worldwide history of religious discrimination, ignoring religious minorities in the EJ literature is a large lacuna that leads us to miss elements that are socially important.…”

“…Wilkins (2021, p. 290) notes that there are important linkages between religion and “power relations, both contemporaneously and historically,” substantiating one of many reasons that political ecology should consider religion. Another reason that religion and EJ should be considered together is the centrality of the Black churches to all types of African‐American activism, including EJ (Kohl, 2019; Stoll, 2006). Further, Binder (1999) notes that EJ advocates often use religious rhetoric, creating direct links between EJ and religion.…”