eco-justice

Theologian Bill Gibson defines “eco-justice” as working for “the well-being of all humankind on a thriving planet.” By its very nature, this work of justice is concerned about the ability of the most vulnerable people – communities of color and/or of low-income and all children – to live in clean, healthy environments. These people most often, and disproportionately, bear the negative impacts of ecological damage. For example, Toxic Wastes and Race (the crucial, 1987 United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice’s report) showed race to be the most significant factor when siting hazardous waste facilities, nationwide. In commenting to a group of religious leaders, Nsedu Obot of the Children’s Environmental Health Network recently said, “These people [living in communities of color and/or of low-income] cannot just get up and move out of their houses. Plus a lot of people might not even know they’re being harmed. A lot of these things aren’t seen for ten, twenty years down the road.”*

As another specific example of an eco-injustice: many toxics also have direct and disproportionate impacts on the health of children, especially those who live in the aforementioned communities. Many toxic pollutants easily enter the systems of unborn and small children, and accumulate in their systems as their bodies grow. The fates of these most vulnerable people are also connected to the fates of other habitat-specific creatures that “cannot just get up and move.”

Work in all of the previously listed dimensions (e.g., Energy Efficiency, Food Sustainability, Advocacy) can also help to promote eco-justice. For example, in addition to reducing their own energy costs and CO2 emissions, Georgetown Gospel Chapel also distributes energy saving, compact florescent light bulbs to their neighbors who struggle to pay their utility bills. They also help to provide additional energy efficiency information and help with retrofits to these neighbors. By lessening their CO2 emissions, the Chapel also lessens their contribution to global warming, which directly impacts the most vulnerable communities around the world. This Eco-justice section highlights a few resources that may help you to consider how your work can beneficially impact all creation – human and non-human.

(*From the United Church of Christ’s web site, in an article entitled, “Living on Poison Ground.”)

One faith-based experience …
Prayerful Roots of the Environmental Justice Movement

Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, former Executive Director of the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice, was in the vanguard of the environmental justice movement. In the early 1980’s, governmental agencies chose Warren County, a predominantly African-American, low-income county in North Carolina, as the dumping site for over 32,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with highly toxic PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). The following comes from a speech that Chavis offered during the National Black Church Environmental and Economic Justice Summit (December 1993).**

“…The brothers and sisters in Warren county, North Carolina didn’t know what polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs] were, nor what their chemical properties were – the danger between … the biological system, and the ecological system. But they knew they were in one of the most predominantly black counties in North Carolina … they knew that there was something wrong. …And it was some sisters, meeting in a rural Baptist church, who got on their knees and prayed to God to give them the strength to lay down in the street in front of those trucks [hauling PCBs into their community]. Then our office, the Commission on Racial Justice office down in Warren, and others got involved.

“When I received the call to go to Warren county, I knew that county … the agricultural community has a shallow water level; most people in the county [had] wells, not piped water, and the Environmental Protection Agency has a rule that you’re not supposed to build a toxic waste dump in a community where the water level is shallow to the ground. Yet, the people in charge at the EPA at that time, looked at the demographics of the community and said ‘Hey, dump on them, they don’t know; even if they did know, who’s going to say something?’ But thank God these women said, ‘you’re not going to dump in my church, you’re not going to dump in my community.’ And out of that vigilance, out of that resistance, it helped energize a movement that was building in many different places. …”

These women along with community members, and civil rights and environmental activists held many demonstrations against the hazardous waste site. In these demonstrations, more than 500 people were arrested, including Rev. Dr. Chavis himself. The site was opened in 1982 but diligent community activism has led to a pledge of $15 million from the federal government to begin remediation of environmental damage caused by the site. Also, in 1987, the United Church of Christ’s Commission on Racial Justice released a report: Toxic Waste and Race in the United States – a crucial document that first exposed the significant role that race plays when agencies decide on locations for hazardous waste sites.

(** The proceedings of this Summit can be ordered by calling (800) 762-0968, ask for EJ 9415.)

Educational Resources

· Larry Rasmussen’s Earth Community, Earth Ethics, “provides a comprehensive approach to issues of social cohesion and ecological concern, synthesizing insights from religion, ethics, and environmental science in a single vision for creating a sustainable community of the Earth” (from the book’s cover). For information on this and other books on eco-justice, see our Annotated Bibliography.

· The Environmental Justice Resource Center’s web site is rich with a wide variety of educational resources, packed with historical and current eco-justice insights.

· The National Council of Churches of Christ’s curriculum God’s Earth, Our Home offers study groups a comprehensive tool for exploring eco-justice. See our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources for more information on this resource.

· The National Council of Churches of Christ’s curriculum Opening the Letter: A Congregational Guide to God's Earth as Sacred utilizes the 2004 ecumenical environmental statement, God's Earth is Sacred as the foundation for a theological curriculum to be used with adult education classes. This guide uses hands on learning, reflection and scripture to explore these principles and the mysteries of creation.

· Two resources that skillfully explore environmental racism and classism include Toxic Waste and Race in the United States: A national report on the racial and socio-economic characteristics of communities with hazardous waste sites and Toxic Waste and Race Update. For ordering information, go to the National Council of Churches of Christ’s Eco-justice Working Group’s eco-justice resource list.

Practical Resources

· The Environmental Justice Resource Center’s People of Color Environmental Groups Directory has information about environmental justice groups in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

· The Children’s Environmental Health Network works to protect children from environmental health hazards. It is an excellent resource for education, networking, and advocacy for children concerning the high environmental risks that they face.

· The Indigenous Environmental Network is “an alliance of grassroots indigenous peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation …” (from their web site). In addition to their efforts on a wide variety of environmental justice concerns, the Network has projects specifically related to mining and persistent organic pollutants.

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