Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice (EJ) is for Everyone

Environmental injustice can be described as the unequal distribution of environmental burdens. As described by Dr. Kyle Whyte of the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, environmental injustice occurs when environmental hazards burden populations already experiencing multiple forms of oppression, such as structural racism and systemic poverty (Whyte, 2016). According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, "Environmental Justice is the equitable treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, ability, or income and is critical to the development and application of laws, regulations, and policies that affect the environment, as well as the places people live, work, play, worship, and learn" ("Learning about," 2025). Environmental justice is for everyone. When your friend, classmate, co-worker, or neighbor is breathing clean air, drinking clean water, and is given equal opportunities to engage in environmental decision-making in their community, we are all better off. EJ influenced the formation of other justice movements, such as climate justice and food justice.

Environmental Justice in Michigan

EJ presents numerous definitions, interpretations, and approaches. Historically, EJ is centered in grassroots organizing. There are numerous EJ organizations in Michigan, including the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, and others. On a state level, there is progress toward environmental justice. In 2019, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2019-06, creating the Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate based out of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy provides the following description of environmental justice: 

"Environmental Justice is the equitable treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, ability, or income and is critical to the development and application of laws, regulations, and policies that affect the environment, as well as the places people live, work, play, worship, and learn.

Equitable treatment means:

• No group of people bears a disproportionate share of the negative consequences resulting from governmental, industrial, or commercial operations and policies

• All people benefit from the application of laws and regulations

• Eliminating barriers such as poverty and lack of access, as well as repairing systemic injustices

Meaningful involvement means:

• People have an opportunity to participate in decisions that affect their environment and/or health

• Decision makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected

• People’s concerns are considered in decision-making processes

• People can influence state agency decisions"

Environmental Justice is Not a New Concept

Environmental justice builds on the work and progress of other social movements, such as the Civil Rights movement beginning in the 1950s and the farm worker rights movement beginning in the 1960s. EJ emerged to urgently address interconnections between racism, discrimination, equity, and the environment (Taylor, 2020). The start of EJ is typically traced to Warren County, North Carolina. In 1982, protests ignited as a result of the proposed polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) chemical landfill in Warren County, North Carolina, a predominantly African American and low-income community. PCBs can leach into groundwater, leading to the contamination of wells and drinking water. It has been found to cause brain, nerve, liver, and skin disorders in humans (LaDuke, 1992). Unfortunately, the PCB landfill was completed in Warren County, yet advocacy and over 500 protester arrests drew national attention to citizen action and community health (Geiser & Waneck, 1983). In 1994, President Bill Clinton’s Executive Order declared EJ a central priority of the federal government (Perez et al., 2015). EJ influenced the formation of other specific justice movements focused on food, transportation, energy, water, housing, and climate. Today, EJ is found in scientific research, education, policy, social justice movements, and grassroots campaigns on a local and international scale (Walker, 2012). 

Written by Sami Maldonado, March 2025.