Last week, I became reinvigorated about a cause I thought I knew a lot about: environmental justice. What is it? It's a framework for integrating class, race, gender, the environment and social justice concerns. It's a worldview that values the principle that all people have a right not only to be protected from environmental pollution, but also to receive an equitable distribution of environmental benefits.
The effects of climate change and the disparities between the global North and South highlight environmental justice concerns on a global scale, but last week I attended a lecture by Dave Cooper, who brought the issue a little closer to home. Cooper, a resident of West Virginia, helped me understand the true power behind a flick of a light switch.
In West Virginia, about 45 miles east of Charleston, there is a community that is asking itself: "Are they trying to bury us alive?" The "they" in question refers to businesses and corporations, who are tearing up the mountains in their search for coal; the government, which has turned a blind eye; and consumers, who are unaware that our addiction to energy causes an unimaginable level of environmental devastation.
Stop the stripping
