OVERVIEW

"Environmental justice" has entered the lexicon as the term of choice for describing the intersection of environmental and economic justice concerns, in particular, the impact of environmental degradation on the health and welfare of people of color, low income and minority populations both across national boundaries and within societies.

Across the world, poor people are affected disproportionately by environmental degradation. Two-thirds of lower-income urban dwellers across the globe breath air that contains dangerously high levels of sulfur; 10 million poor children, according to the World Health organization, die each year from drinking contaminated water; and poverty and social inequities contribute to the massive destruction of rainforests. In the United States, studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Michigan and the United Church of Christ have indicated that communities of people of color and low income appear in highly disproportionate numbers as sites for hazardous waste landfills, incinerators and chemical factories, while being the least likely to be selected as sites for environmental clean-up efforts. These studies were validated and addressed in February, 1994, when President Clinton signed an Executive Order on "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority and Low Income Populations," which ensures that federal programs do not unfairly inflict environmental hardships on poor or minority communities.

In October 1991, a multinational First People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit was convened which highlighted the burdens of environmental degradation on these communities. Since that time, numerous groups representing people of color have organized around environmental justice as a primary agenda item.

The issue of environmental justice poses a dual challenge to the Jewish community relations field. In this context, environmental problems are explored for their economic, political and social justice implications. And while environmental degradation is a global problem with widespread implications for all humanity, the field is challenged to adopt policies that recognize and involve the most severely affected populations.

Fundamental to Jewish community relations is the fostering of conditions needed to ensure a society wherein all people enjoy equal rights, security, justice and opportunity. This commitment flows from Jewish religious mandates and tradition to pursue justice by equitable means. Moreover, it has been our experience that Jewish security flourishes in a society committed to such social and democratic values. The Jewish community also embraces a mandate to cherish, cultivate and protect the earth.

As activity around environmental justice increases among our intergroup and interreligious coalition partners, as federal environmental justice legislation continues to be introduced, and as concern for the state of the natural world grows; the NJCRAC has developed the following principles to guide our work in this area. These principles are intended to provide a consensus from which to articulate positions on legislation, and to suggest a direction for coalitional action.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PRINCIPLES

The Jewish tradition, informed by primary Jewish sources and by contemporary Jewish insights, includes a mandate to cultivate, protect and nurture the environment. At the same time, the Jewish community has a longstanding commitment to social justice and equal opportunity.

Today, air, water, and land pollution, species extinction and climatic change are causing escalating environmental decay as well as widespread health problems, and evidence indicates that these problems disproportionately burden poor communities and people of color.

The Jewish community relations field therefore:

• affirms the right of all people to live and work in environments with clean air, land, water and food;
  
  
• recognizes the obligation of government to protect the public health by ensuring the establishment of sufficient regulations and facilities to safely minimize, manage, and dispose of toxic, nuclear, and other hazardous wastes;
  
  
• affirms the right of all people to participate in the planning and implementation of regulations around environmental issues in their communities;
  
  
• calls for comprehensive strategies to be adopted and funded by local, state and federal government to address the environmental degradation currently suffered by affected communities;
  
  
• calls on state and federally supported agencies to ensure that their programs do not inflict disproportionate environmental harm on the poor, on minority groups, or on people of color, and that these communities have equal access to environmental clean-up programs;
  
  
• calls on the public and private sectors to engage in practices that contribute to the development of a healthy economy and a sustainable and livable environment.
  
  
• reaffirms its own commitment to engage in education and advocacy around environmental protection and environmental justice.

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