For my topic, I have chosen to talk about Environmental Justice and the impact on the poor and racial minorities. The "environment" in this case refers to the totality of our proximity of things, conditions, social and cultural factors that influence the life of an individual or the human population. Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.1 In spite of significant improvements of environmental protection by environmental justice activists, over the years many people worldwide still live in unsafe and unhealthy environments. I would like to explore this aspect of Environmental Justice because it would help further investigate factors that affect the poor and racial minorities and find out whether the Environmental Justice activists are actually making an impact on the development of society as a whole. .
In order to understand environmental justice issues, one has to consider the environmental justice movement from the larger dynamics of society that produces inequality and environmental degradation. This is primarily rooted in the fact that the mistreatment of the physical environment and the human population that live in that environment are connected. Environmental justice can be looked at from several perspectives and can be better understood by examining different examples. To start, Environmental Justice demands two basic rights for individuals. These are the fact that (i) individuals should be free from pollution and (ii) individuals should have the freedom or opportunity to participate in environmental decision making.
Environmental Justice stresses the fact that public policy should be based on mutual respect and justice for all people, liberated from any form of discrimination or bias.