Cumulative Impact Assessment and Environmental Justice

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Cumulative Impact Assessment and Environmental
Justice

• By
• Eric J. Krieg and Daniel R. Faber

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Environmental Justice

• Environmental Justice refers to cultural norms
  and values, rules, regulations, behaviors,
  policies, and decisions to support sustainable
  communities, where people can interact with
  confidence that their environment is safe,
  nurturing, and productive. Environmental justice
  is served when people can realize their highest
  potential without experiencing isms.

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Two dominant isms in the study of environmental
justice

• Environmental Racism the disproportionate
  impact of ecological hazards on people of color
  communities.
• Environmental Classism the disproportionate
  impact of ecological hazards on lower income
  communities.
• Other isms exist (sexism, nationalism) in the
  study of environmental justice however, race and
  class have historically defined the field.

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Redefining Power in Communities

• The division of environmental justice into
  discussions of race versus class has had the
  effect of overlooking the question of community
  power.
• Using standardized scores (z-scores) we sum each
  communitys relative racial composition and
  relative income composition to create a new
  variable called Community Power.

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The case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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A Sample of the Distribution of Environmental
Hazard Points
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Correlation of Environmental Hazard Points with
Social Indicators (2000)
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Scatterplot and Linear Regression Line of Total
Environmental Hazard Points by Community Power
Score (2000)
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Scatterplot and Linear Regression Line of
Environmental Hazard Points per Square Mile by
Community Power Score (2000)
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Correlation of Community Power Score (1990 and
2000) with Environmental Hazard Points and
Environmental Hazard Points per Square Mile