There
is certainly environmental racism throughout the state of California in regards
to the minority populations that work in the central valley in the agriculture
industry. The exposure to toxic chemicals from pesticides and other agricultural
toxins is significantly higher in those that live and work in these areas than
in the general population. Studies have shown that the effects from exposure
have detrimental effects on cognitive and physical development. I have heard
the term environmental justice before, but did not know that it encompasses so
many aspects of environmental health and social determinants of health. Just driving
around the community, it is clear that we still have a ways to go for environmental
justice. Lower income neighborhoods tend to be closer to freeways and train
tracks, which produce not only air pollution, but noise pollution as well. Living
close to the hills in Oakland, it is clear that those with higher income live
in the hills, farther from freeways, heavy traffic, and noise. Social
determinants of health certainly include environmental justice as a major
aspect. There are many factors to environmental justice that overlap with
social determinants. The WHO defines social determinants of health as the
conditions in which individuals are born, grow, live, and work. Living in
poverty can force individuals and families to live in certain environments that
are detrimental to their health. We need to, as voters and as health care
providers, must fight to ensure that our battle toward environmental justice continues.
Laws that prevent activities such as dumping of toxic materials and building of
landfills do not continue to occur in areas in which minorities and low income
populations live. With the social determinants that they already face, such as
lack of sidewalks and lack of access to healthy food, we must do what we can to
protect these communities.
Since
climate activist, Greta Thunberg, came to New York this week, I’ve been
following her and her supporters. I was just looking through the articles from
this past week about the massive demonstrations taking place around the world
to demand change in favor of protecting our planet. The article below talks
about the tens of thousands of people that came out just in New York City to
show their support. Students were even excused from school to attend. I was so
heartened to see that young people, Greta being only 16 years old, understand
the damage that humans are doing to our fragile planet. These demonstrations
give me hope about our future although it often looks so dim. With the massive
support that Greta has invoked, I hope that our lawmakers will finally start to
listen. It makes me realize how important our next big election is going to be.
I hope that this gets people hyped up to vote!
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/nyregion/climate-strike-nyc.html
"Pollution-producing facilities are often sited in poor communities of color. No one wants a factory, a landfill or a diesel bus garage for a neighbor. But corporate decision makers, regulatory agencies and local planning and zoning boards had learned that it was easier to site such facilities in low-income African-American or Latino communities than in primarily white, middle-to-upper-income communities. Poor communities and communities of color usually lacked connections to decision makers on zoning boards or city councils that could protect their interests. Often they could not afford to hire the technical and legal expertise they'd need to fight a siting. They often lacked access to information about how their new "neighbor's" pollution would affect people's health. And in the case of Latino communities, important information in English-only documents was out of reach for affected residents who spoke only Spanish" (Environmental Justice, 2019). I really hadn't thought about this issues as a problem until a prison was going to be built near my home. everyone in the community advocated against it because it was close to schools, the freeway, and private upscale homes. This community was mostly white, upper middle-class and worked diligently to inform the governor of their concerns. The prison was still built but with input from the residents in the communities. I don't believe we have to "fix" anything. I do believe that we can help advocate for these residents and empower them to take a stand about what is best for their communities. I am from a very different generation and don't like protests and angry mobs trying to get their point across by yelling in our faces. However, I do appreciate our differences and want to support a healthier environment for everyone. Of course, these are my opinions and this is a blog! :)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice
i work close to the central valley and we get also of patients that have been contaminated with the insecticides, pesticides, and others. These community in unaware of the dangers of these products, we do our best to educate our population but I agree the community leaders need to enforce the agricultural owner with the right protective gears for this jobs.
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