A Just Transition: Lessons Learned from the Environmental Justice Movement
![handle is hein.journals/dukef4 and id is 45 raw text is: A JUST TRANSITION: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT
CAROLINE FARRELLt
I. INTRODUCTION
The history of the fossil fuel economy is premised on exploiting natural
resources, the environment, and people.' As the United States and the global
economy begin to transition from a fossil fuel economy to an economy based on
a more sustainable use of natural resources, it is critical that we examine the
problems with the fossil fuel economy in order to avoid those problems in the
future. The Environmental Justice Movement has been at the forefront of
challenging the effects of the fossil fuel economy on low-income communities
and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by pollution.
Advocates have developed a broad framework for understanding environmental
justice that encompasses how benefits and burdens of pollution are distributed,
how decisions about resource allocation are made, and how the environmental,
political, economic, and cultural aspects of people's lives are interconnected.2 The
advocates' comprehensive analyses of the problems with the fossil fuel economy
also lend themselves to holistic solutions to the problems. As we transition away
from a fossil fuel economy, we should adopt approaches learned from the
Environmental Justice Movement and plan the transition not only to change the
way we use fuel, but to create a truly just economy.
This article discusses how the Environmental Justice Movement's
approaches to identifying and addressing disparities within the fossil fuel
economy can help inform a more just transition to a sustainable economy. This
article describes environmental justice and the Environmental Justice Movement,
how the fossil fuel economy has disproportionately impacted low-income
communities and communities of color, and the principles of environmental
justice as articulated by advocates and President Clinton's Executive Order on
t Caroline Farrell is the Executive Director of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment,
and for over twelve years has assisted low-income communities and communities of color in the
south San Joaquin Valley and throughout the country in their struggle for environmental justice. Ms.
Farrell serves as Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, as
a Member of the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee on AB 32 for the California Air
Resources Board, and on the Board of Directors for Communities for a Better Environment and Act
for Women and Girls in Visalia.
1. FIRST NAT'L PEOPLE OF COLOR ENVTL. LEADERSHIP SUMMIT, THE PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, pmbl. (Oct. 24-27, 1991) [hereinafter THE PRINCIPLES]. (We ... [are]
gathered together ... to secure our political, economic and cultural liberation that has been denied for
over 500 years of colonization and oppression, resulting in the poisoning of our communities and
land and the genocide of our peoples.).
2. E.g., id.
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A Just Transition: Lessons Learned from the Environmental Justice Movement
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