9 Who Gets Environmental Justice? The Social Problem of Climate Change
I am grateful to the land, to the forces of life that guide me to where I need to be, to my ancestors who have come before me. I know that nothing I do is done alone. I thank my chosen family, my grandmother, and my more-than-human companions who are beside me on this journey. – Avery Temple
Chapter Overview
Figure 8.1 and b. 36 Inches: Understanding the Jordan Cove Energy Project [YouTube] and Rogue Climate, Klamath Co. landowners ‘excited’ as Jordan Cove project halts after years-long fight [YouTube] show the beginning and the end of the Jordan Cove Energy Project. Please watch all 9 minutes of these videos. As you watch, consider how this experience fits the basic definition of a social problem. Also, look for ways that people responded in an interdependent way.
Our exploration of social problems continues with an examination of the ways that members of a community can work together to solve environmental justice issues, as shown in the opening videos in figure 8.1 a and b. In 2005, Native American tribes and other community members throughout Oregon and northern California learned that a Canadian corporation was actively pursuing permits to construct the Jordan Cove Energy Project (JCEP). The JCEP included a large coastal terminal and refinery site and a 229-mile-long pipeline that would pass through tribal, forest, and agricultural lands. This project would cross 400 streams and rivers and six miles of wetlands. Over 600 private landowners would be threatened with eminent domain––the seizing of property normally reserved for projects thought to benefit the public, such as hospitals or roads. The ancestral territories, cultural resources, and burial grounds of five Oregon and three northern California federally recognized tribes would also be threatened. Community members from diverse backgrounds came together. They forged a campaign to stop the project once they learned about the risks it presented to themselves, the environment, and the climate.
Opponents of the JCEP argued that the project would hardly benefit Oregonians economically, considering it would only produce around 250 permanent jobs. They would not benefit from the energy either since nearly all the gas would be shipped to international markets in Asia.
Many residents were concerned about environmental and health risks posed by the JCEP. The risks of placing a pipeline carrying an enormous amount of highly explosive fuel in an area already inundated with catastrophic wildfires each year. They also worried about placing a refinery and export terminal in an earthquake and tsunami-prone area on the coast.
Environmental groups noted the inevitable impacts the JCEP would have on rivers and streams along with numerous plants and animal species, including already threatened and endangered species. If built, the JCEP would also become the state’s largest greenhouse gas emitter––the equivalent of adding 7.9 million passenger cars to Oregon’s roads annually (Oil Change International 2017) at a time when humans should be investing in sustainable and renewable energy sources.
Lastly, the gas would come from Rocky Mountain states and northern Canada where it is extracted by a resource-intensive and highly controversial process called fracking. Communities located near fracking sites have an increased risk of developing cancer and other diseases due to contaminated groundwater, air pollution, and radioactive and toxic waste (Short et al. 2015).
As you might imagine, very few residents supported the JCEP development. They resisted it by any means available to them every step of the way. Protesters filed lawsuits. They attended state hearings and government hearings. They demonstrated in front of the Oregon Capitol. They decorated trees with protest signs like the one in figure 8.2. They organized numerous events to raise awareness, such as hiking along the proposed pipeline route to show the project’s potential environmental impacts.
Tribal communities were at the forefront of the resistance movement. They considered the JCEP yet another method of colonization that disregarded their cultural and human rights. After 17 years of tireless resistance, this unified and large coalition won their fight. The JCEP was officially canceled in December 2021.
Wealthy multinational companies rarely withdraw from a project of this size. Often, they have invested millions of dollars and may stand to earn billions more. In this case, perhaps it became clear that they would lose in the long run. People would never give up the fight to stop them. This campaign was only one of far too many to name taking place across the US and internationally to put an end to industries largely responsible for causing the climate crisis in hopes of creating a safer and more just future for all.
We share our planet with far more than just members of our species. Because a great deal of our daily life is centered around the world humanity has built, it’s easy to forget that we are part of a greater whole––a whole in which we are but one of the billions of life forms that inhabit Earth, all equally dependent on a healthy and safe environment to live and to thrive. Human society and the natural environment are interconnected parts of this whole. However, the world we share with the larger circle of life is increasingly impacted by human activity. These impacts are so pervasive that scientists around the world name the current geological period of Earth’s history the Anthropocene, or the age of humans.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following:
- Explain how climate change is a social problem as much as an environmental problem.
- Discuss how the historical experiences of colonization contribute to the environmental crisis.
- Compare Indigenous and Western worldviews to explain the climate crisis and offer opportunities for innovative solutions.
- Analyze intersections between race, class, gender, and other social locations to understand the causes and consequences of climate change.
- Assess whether all human groups are equally responsible for causing the climate crisis.
- Evaluate whether changes in individual behavior or collective action are more important in applying environmental solutions that support environmental and social justice.
Focusing Questions
The questions that guide our curiosity include:
- Why is climate change a social problem as much as an environmental problem?
- How do historical experiences of colonization contribute to the environmental crisis?
- How do differences in Indigenous and Western worldviews contribute to the climate crisis and offer opportunities for innovative solutions?
- How can an understanding of the intersections between race, class, gender, and other social locations help explain the causes and consequences of climate change?
- Are all human groups equally responsible for causing the climate crisis?
- Are changes in individual behavior or collective action more important in applying solutions that support environmental and social justice?
In this chapter, we explore the causes and consequences of climate change. We find out why climate change is both an environmental issue and a social problem due to the inequitable power dynamics that place some communities at greater risk than others. We examine how individuals and communities are responding to climate change. We are acting to adapt to the current effects of climate change and to prevent further social and ecological harm. We want to leave behind a cleaner and safer environment for future generations.
Let’s learn more about this beautiful and troubled planet we call home!
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Overview
Open Content, Original“Chapter Overview” by Patricia Halleran, Kimberly Puttman, and Avery Temple, is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Open Content, Shared PreviouslyFigure 8.2 Photo by Francis Eatherington. License: by CC BY-NC 2.0. All Rights Reserved ContentFigure 8.1a “36 Inches | Understanding the Jordan Cove Energy Project” © Synchronous Pictures. License Terms: Standard YouTube License. Figure 8.1b “Rogue Climate, Klamath Co. landowners ‘excited’ as Jordan Cove project halts after years-long fight” © KOBI-TV NBC5. License Terms: Standard YouTube License. |