Digital Commons Network^™

Indigenous Land Seizure & Environmental Injustice: Impacts Of Settler Colonialism, Lydia Moorman

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The fields of conservation and environmentalism prioritize ecosystem health, yet both emerged from western frameworks that displaced and criminalized Indigenous land stewardship. The idealization of “pristine wilderness” narratives served to justify the removal of Indigenous peoples from their homelands and erased millennia of sustainable land stewardship that had maintained ecological balance long before western conservation existed. These narratives not only misrepresented Indigenous relationship with land but also constructed a false dichotomy between humans and nature that positioned Indigenous presence as a threat rather than a source of ecological knowledge. Simultaneously, anthropogenic expansion; such as pipelines, mining, railroads, and other extractive …

Gender Justice In The Triple Planetary Crisis: A Scoping Review, Catelyn Richards, Micah Peters, Julia Charalambous, Lila Singh-Peterson, Lucy Osborn, Aletha Ward, Jessica Leclair, Tracy Levett-Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: To identify and report how gender justice is conceptualised and discussed in contemporary health literature in relation to the Triple Planetary Crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, with a particular focus on the experiences of women and gender-diverse populations, and the representation of nurses and other healthcare professionals dominated by women. Design: Scoping review. Data Sources: Searches were conducted across MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus, CINHAL, Embase and ProQuest, focusing on studies published from January 1 2000–23 September 2024. Review Methods: The review was conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and reported against the Preferred …

Environmental Health Risks To Children In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Of Evidence And Gaps In Global Interventions, Tadius C. Chitambwe, Dewi Susanna

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) children experience a disproportionate burden of environmental health risks, contributing to over half of global under-five deaths despite representing only 27% of live births ¹. This scoping review synthesised evidence from sixty-seven (67) eligible studies (2010–2025) to map out environmental exposures affecting children (0–18 years) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to identify gaps in global interventions. Included studies focused on children (0-18 years) in SSA, addressed one or more of the four predefined environmental exposure domains (air pollution, WASH, toxic chemicals, climate-related risks), and reported on child health outcomes or interventions. Guided by the PRISMA and Arksey …

Environmental Justice In Indigenous Communities: The Disproportionate Effects Of Environmental Contamination, Rae Cade, Danlin Yu, Charles Knoble, Kyle Whyte, Pankaj Lal, Cortni Borgerson

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Indigenous communities in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania (referred to as the northeastern United States) face disproportionate environmental pollution, with mortality rates 60 % higher than their white counterparts –an inequity that extends beyond formal recognition categories. While previous research has revealed pollution from facilities that cause severe health issues in Indigenous communities, broad geographic studies examining the spatial correlation between Environmental Justice (EJ) indicators and Indigenous populations remain limited. This study addresses this gap by examining contamination patterns across the northeastern United States, focusing on Superfund sites, drinking water violations, oil spills, and natural gas releases. Our analysis …

Utahns’ Understanding & Support Of Environmental Equity & Justice, Dallin Johnson, Jordan Rowley, Stacia Ryder, Jennifer E. Givens, Avery C. Edenfield, Harley Thomas

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Utah faces its fair share of environmental problems. Top concerns among residents are issues of drought, air quality, and the drying of the Great Salt Lake (1). However, research suggests that the impacts of environmental issues like disasters, pollution, resource overuse and climate change are not shared equally across society (2). This is a challenge for environmental justice, which maintains the need for fair treatment and outcomes for all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, and class, with respect to the enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies (3). Put more simply, everyone is entitled to a clean and healthy environment …

Mortal Rivers: A Case Study Analysis Of Indigenous Water Sovereignty Within The Penobscot And Lakota Nations, 19th Century To Present, Moya S. Stringer

Honors Theses

Indigenous water sovereignty has long been a contested problem within the continent of Turtle Island. In 2016, the Lakota Nation globalized the message Water is Life through their movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil infrastructure that would put one of the continent’s largest watersheds at risk. The revolutionary fervor of the Water is Life movement travelled all the way to the Penobscot Nation in the Dawnland, a place we now call Maine. In an adjacent vein to the Lakota, the Penobscot people have spent the 21st century addressing damming projects and rampant pollution from the 1900s in a …

White Paper And Black Water: Environmental Control Of Labor In Appalachian Paper Mill Communities, Matthew C. Powell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In several small Appalachian communities, the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company dominated the local landscape. The company stripped the mountainsides of spruce trees for pulpwood and used rivers for industrial processes and waste disposal. The small towns along these rivers and between these mountains relied on paper mills for employment. Corporate control over the natural environment, and water more specifically, was a necessary requirement for paper production, but also acted as a source of power over employees and their communities. When paper workers sought to organize, the company responded by leveraging their control over the environment against them to …

Toxic Environments In The Handmaid's Tale, Its Sequels, And Other Feminist Dystopias, Péter Hajdu

Kritika Kultura

Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, was much more concerned with sexist oppression than environmental issues. The late 2010s experienced a boom in feminist dystopian novels, including a sequel by Atwood herself, and the television series adaptation of the novel is also part of this trend. This development evolves in a much more environmentally conscious context, which necessarily influences the interpretation both of the 1985 novel and the sequels. This article offers readings of recent feminist dystopias from the viewpoint of current environmental crises, especially the pollution crisis and climate change. The basic problem the religious fundamentalist regime of …

Louisville’S Roots In Pollution: A Battle Against Environmental Injustice, Harshith Gontla, Sireen Khader, Rianna Pais, Swetha S. Nathan

The Cardinal Edge

No abstract provided.

Environmental Quality In Connecticut: The 2023 Annual Report Of The Council On Environmental Quality, State Of Connecticut Council On Environmental Quality

Reports

The 2023 Annual Report from the Council on Environmental Quality highlights improvements and challenges in Connecticut’s environmental quality. While air and water quality have improved over decades, climate change, increased GHG emissions, and severe weather events present growing threats. The report covers topics from air and water pollution to wildlife trends and land conservation.

Impact Of Pollution On Marginalized Communities: Case Study Of Omaha, Nebraska, Miqaela Davis

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Environmental justice has been a struggle within our country for years. The goal of Environmental justice is for the fair treatment and equal voice for every single individual regardless of race, income, gender, etc. There has been environmental injustice and racism in many cities, but this study focuses on Omaha, Nebraska. Key questions include: What are some specific pollutants that are prevalent in areas with differing racial majorities in Omaha? What are some of the health patterns in these areas and does it relate to environmental racism? How has Omaha reinforced environmental racism through city planning? Using the Climate and …

Breathing Inequity: A Mixed Method Analysis Of Rubbertown's Air Quality Problem, Mikayla Pitmon

Undergraduate Theses

Louisville Metro Government has a multitude of quantitative data on demographics, health, and air quality in Rubbertown fenceline communities. This study explores how community-level research allows us to have a more robust understanding of the impact of environmental injustice. Spatial data was utilized to map various health variables, zoning, and community spaces relative to Rubbertown chemical facilities. A semi-structured interview was then conducted with a local environmental justice activist to gain a better understanding of their experience and the barriers to environmental justice for the residents of West Louisville. This study improves our understanding of community needs and adds a …

A Fork In The Road: Uncovering The Impact Of Industrial Animal Agriculture On The Physical Health Of Communities Of Color, Mariana Zepeda

Population Health Research Brief Series

Nearly all (99%) farmed animals in the U.S. come from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are industrial agriculture facilities defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as operations where animals are raised in confinement and meet animal size and waste material thresholds. Communities located near CAFOs, which tend to have high shares of low-income and racial/ethnic minority residents, are at risk of exposure to CAFO-related air and water pollutants. This brief summarizes the health risks for communities located near CAFOs. Additionally, it calls for government regulations that improve transparency, management, and consumer empowerment.

Examining The Health Risks Of Particulate Matter 2.5 In New York City: How It Affects Marginalized Groups And The Steps Needed To Reduce Air Pollution, Freddy Castro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The following examines the impact of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) on public health, focusing on its sources and effects on vulnerable populations in New York City. PM2.5 is a particle that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter and, because of its size, can enter the bloodstream affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and further complicating the health of the immunocompromised. Recent studies have shown that PM2.5 can come from various sources, including transportation and industrial emissions, as well as indoor sources like cigarettes and gas-operated stoves. Despite reduced levels of PM2.5 due to recent policy changes and initiatives taken …

Energy Justice And Renewable Rikers, Rebecca Bratspies

University of Miami Law Review

Unsustainable energy practices generate the lion’s share of global carbon emissions as well as staggering levels of deadly particulate pollution. Replacing the current dirty, fossil fuel-based system with affordable, clean energy is both a human rights imperative and a climate change necessity. This transition, which has already begun, creates the opportunity to do things differently. By confronting the structural racism embedded in existing energy structures, we can build a just transition rather than just a transition. This Article uses New York City’s Renewable Rikers project as a case study to explore how we might take advantage of the intersections between …

The Private Litigation Impact Of New York's Green Amendment, Evan Bianchi, Sean Di Luccio, Martin Lockman, Vincent Nolette

Faculty Publications

The increasing urgency of climate change, combined with federal environmental inaction under the Trump Administration, inspired a wave of environmental action at the state and local level. Building on the environmental movement of the 1970s, activists have pushed to amend more than a dozen state constitutions to include “green amendments”—self-executing individual rights to a clean environment. In 2022, New York activists succeeded, and New York’s Green Amendment (the NYGA) now provides that “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

However, the power of the NYGA and similar green amendments turns on judicial …

A Balanced Prescription For More Effective Environmental Regulations, W. Kip Viscusi

Pace Environmental Law Review

Government agencies increasingly base the structure and approval of environmental regulations on a benefit-cost test. For regulations that pass this test, total benefits exceed total costs. Under a benefit-cost framework, the degree of regulatory stringency is set at an economically efficient level whereby the tightness of the regulation is increased up to the point where the incremental benefits equal the incremental costs. Setting regulatory standards to achieve the efficient degree of pollution control does not fully discourage entry into polluting industries, provide compensation to those harmed by pollution, or establish meaningful incentives for effective enforcement. This article proposes that the …

Confetti That Cares: Removing Harmful Pollution From Ohio's Athens Campus, Era Bakia

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

I campaigned to remove polluting confetti from campus. I created a biodegradable alternative and conducted event outreach.

Assessing Environmental Justice In Minnesota: Do Native Americans Face Disproportionate Risks?, Mya Schmeling

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Environmental justice is an area that has gained traction worldwide in recent years. Today, researchers are analyzing what factors play into this issue and what policymakers and environmental regulation can do to better these issues. Environmental justice focuses on any group that experiences an imbalance of environmental harms. These groups are commonly distinguished by factors such as race and income. I analyze primarily if Native Americans in the state of Minnesota may face disproportionate environmental harms, I also look at Black identifying individuals and population size as a means of comparison. I compared the number of environmental harms and the …

One Man’S Trash: Duke Riley’S Archive And The Social Construction Of Garbage, Deirdre M. Sullivan

Student Publications

In a post-industrial society, Americans have to grapple with the result of seemingly endless production: trash. The amount of trash produced every day is a rising threat to the planet and its inhabitants; every decision made for the future must also take into account waste, rubbish, and refuse that will never break down or be fully removed from our waterways. Some artists, such as contemporary artist Duke Riley, have embraced the use of trash in their art as a critique of capitalism and consumerism. One of his most notable works is the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum series, a …

A Balanced Prescription For More Effective Environmental Regulations, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Government agencies increasingly base the structure and approval of environmental regulations on a benefit-cost test. For regulations that pass this test, total benefits exceed total costs. Under a benefit-cost framework, the degree of regulatory stringency is set at an economically efficient level whereby the tightness of the regulation is increased up to the point where the incremental benefits equal the incremental costs. Setting regulatory standards to achieve the efficient degree of pollution control does not fully discourage entry into polluting industries, provide compensation to those harmed by pollution, or establish meaningful incentives for effective enforcement. This article proposes that the …

Exploring Environmental Racism, Quality Of Life, And Inequalities In Kentucky Counties, Bailey Harder, James Maples

Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Environmental racism explores how pollution-producing industries are systematically constructed in and around poor, minority communities. Exposure to pollutants over time negatively impacts resident well being and quality of life while economic trends limit opportunities to relocated. Kentucky provides a valuable opportunity for exploring environmental racism. The state’s long dependency on coal extraction has created environmental opportunities for studying this phenomenon amid deindustrialization throughout the region. This study examines how changes in air pollution (a proxy measure of environmental toxins) correlates to poverty, quality of life, and resident racial demographics. Results indicate that Kentucky counties with higher air pollution had lower …

Toxic Timescapes: Examining Toxicity Across Time And Space, Simone M. Müller, May-Brith Ohman Nielsen

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

An interdisciplinary environmental humanities volume that explores human-environment relationships on our permanently polluted planet.

While toxicity and pollution are ever present in modern daily life, politicians, juridical systems, media outlets, scholars, and the public alike show great difficulty in detecting, defining, monitoring, or generally coming to terms with them. This volume’s contributors argue that the source of this difficulty lies in the struggle to make sense of the intersecting temporal and spatial scales working on the human and more-than-human body, while continuing to acknowledge race, class, and gender in terms of global environmental justice and social inequality.

The term toxic …

A Contractual Relationship With Environmental Justice, Seema Kakade

American University Law Review

While corporations have long grappled with environmental issues, environmental justice is different. Corporations regularly manage compliance with environmental permits over a polluting facility’s long lifespan. Justice issues, however, are a fast-growing space for corporations as they wrestle with employee, government, customer, and public demands to step up for the communities that are directly impacted by the pollution their facilities produce. This Article explores the relationship between corporate polluters and impacted communities, with a focus on private-ordering tools like contracts. Such a focus enriches environmental justice law’s traditional focus on government decisionmakers, moving instead to corporate decision-making about where, how, and …

Scientists And Activists Work To Save The Planet, Myriam G. Vidal Valero

Capstones

Climate change and human intervention in nature are affecting people, ecosystems and ways of living all over the world. This portfolio of environmental pieces showcases the dire consequences of not addressing these issues, how solutions can be reached and the challenges facing those who try to change things.

Something Stinks: The Need For Stronger Agricultural Waste Regulations, Audrey Curelop

Washington and Lee Law Review

In the twentieth century, the American agricultural industry underwent significant changes—while most food animals were once raised on small family farms, now, over fifty percent are produced entirely inside concentrated animal feeding operations. These large‑scale farming operations house hundreds to thousands of cows, swine, or chickens, which collectively produce hundreds of millions of tons of waste per year. The primary method of waste disposal is land application, a process in which waste is sprayed or spread onto land with no required pretreatment. After land application, waste byproducts make their way into the surrounding air and waterways, posing significant threats to …

Whalers In “A Post-Whaling World”: Sustainable Conservation Of Marine Mammals And Sustainable Development Of Whaling Communities—With A Case Study From The Eastern Caribbean, Russell Fielding

Honors College Faculty Publications

The sustainable conservation of marine mammals depends not only upon considerations made for the marine mammals themselves. In many parts of the world, human societies have developed a deep reliance upon marine mammals as a food source. The sustainability and the equitable, sustainable development of these communities should be considered alongside efforts to conserve the marine mammals upon which people rely. As an example of the complexity inherent to simultaneous efforts on both fronts, this paper reviews and synthesizes two lines of research related to a small-scale whaling operation for odontocetes (dolphins and toothed whales) based in the Eastern Caribbean. …

Procedural Environmental Justice, Jonathan Skinner-Thompson

Washington Law Review

Achieving environmental justice—that is, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies—requires providing impacted communities not just the formal right, but the substantive ability, to participate as equal partners at every level of environmental decision-making. While established administrative policy purports to provide all people with so-called meaningful involvement in the regulatory process, the public participation process often excludes marginalized community members from exerting meaningful influence on decision- making. Especially in the environmental arena, regulatory decisions are often …

Marine Debris In The Bering Sea: Combining Historical Records, Toxicology, And Local Knowledge To Assess Impacts And Identify Solutions, Veronica M. Padula

Fisheries

Marine debris, particularly plastic marine debris, has numerous impacts on the environment, wildlife, and human communities. This research examines dimensions of marine debris in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, Alaska, including impacts of marine debris pollution on wildlife and the environment; the history of marine debris research, monitoring, and cleanup activities; and community perspectives on local to global solutions. The first chapter of this dissertation is an integrative literature review to better understand the current status of marine debris knowledge in the Bering Sea region and identify critical knowledge gaps. We synthesized the depth and breadth of research, monitoring, …

Beauty And The Beast: Plastic Pollution In The Personal Care And Cosmetics Industry, Olivia Frantzeskos

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the history of plastic in the beauty and cosmetics industry, and how this toxic material is irreparably harming our ecosystems resulting from nonrecyclable packaging and a lack of microplastic management. Properly managing harmful plastics found in personal care and cosmetics products (PCCPs) is essential for minimizing toxic wastewater in raw sewage, landfills, and the ocean, as discussed in reports such as “Plastics in Cosmetics” by the UNEP. Furthermore, this paper presents an argument for why the personal care and cosmetics industry should be included in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which gives the EPA authority to …