By Ella Vincent –
Environmental justice (EJ) is a concept in geography that hasn’t been around for long, because of this, it’s an increasingly popular theme that becomes more prevalent each day across the globe. EJ is based upon the ideals that everyone has the right to equal protection from environmental and public health laws [1]. Protests and demonstrations work to establish this right, but what happens once they succeed to make change?
Figure 1. Picture showing trees in residential Massachusetts. Image: Simtropolitan, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A process heavily linked to EJ is environmental racism (ER) in which certain communities are deliberately picked to host toxic or harmful facilities, notably communities of colour, that are predominantly non-white [2]. Meaning that these communities suffer a lack of green spaces and enhanced pollutants. As well as this, studies show that race is the single best factor to explain the presence of these facilities in communities [3]. Evidently the need for EJ in these places is extremely necessary, especially in terms of health and well-being. For the state of Massachusetts, EJ has had successes to some extent.
Massachusetts is a north-eastern state in America, after EJ campaigns demanded change, they received it! The planting of tress along the many urban residential and commercial areas within the state. As a way of opening the community, which is almost 22% non-white [4], up to greener spaces. While EJ has a huge focus on the placement of harmful facilities, the lack of greenspaces is also a place of interest. One important aspect for good quality of life and well-being is the availability of greenspace [5]. Therefore, the trees were seen as a great improvement at first.
Out of 181 surveys done here, the study found that there was no real improvement in people’s perceptions of the area in terms of safety [6], it implies that the residents don’t really have any particular feelings towards the trees. While this does vary in some ways, it is very dependent on the demographics of the residents, many people simply just don’t value the trees. And so, we must ask ourselves, what more can we do to ensure the EJ demanded in these areas is effective? Are we using the wrong methods to bring about equality, or do we simply need to investigate the issue further? This is just one example of communities being failed by EJ…
To conclude and to provide insight to these questions, we must understand how EJ, and ER are things we are only beginning to see the complexity and severeness of, something that geographers will be progressively concerned with, in time. As a global community we need to be more concerned with this issue and recognise our privilege and responsibility to educate about this, not only for Massachusetts, but for all communities suffering this way. The need for specialised and definitive support in certain areas has become clear, we must understand how changes will improve their environment, prior to helping them. But, for the people of Massachusetts, the trees remain a faint symbol of what could be.
References and further reading
[1] Bullard, R.D., 1996. Environmental Justice: It’s More Than Waste Facility Siting. Social science quarterly, 77(3), pp.493–499
[2] Chavis, B. F., Jr., 1994, Preface. In R. D. Bullard, editor, Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, xixii.
[3] Lee, C., 2019. Toxic waste and race in the United States (pp. 10-27). Routledge.
[4] World Population Review https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/massachusetts-population [3/12/21]
[5] Bertram, C. & Rehdanz, K., 2015. The role of urban green space for human well-being. Ecological economics, 120, pp.139–152.
[6] Coleman, A.F., Ryan, R.L., Eisenman, T.S., Locke, D.H. and Harper, R.W., 2021. The influence of street trees on pedestrian perceptions of safety: Results from environmental justice areas of Massachusetts, US. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 64, p.127258.