environmental activism in low income communities

Environmental Activism in Low Income Communities

Carissa Clark, M.A. Grace Hill

Lauren Mitchell, M.S.W. Grace Hill

Poverty & Environmentalism: Why is this a challenge

• In opposing the construction and operation of the WTI hazardous waste incinerator, we have learned that low income populations and communities of color have been targeted for the location of hazardous waste facilities that frequently promise jobs and prosperity, but in fact bring a threat to the health, environment and safety of the families that live in these areas. We have learned that it is never too late to take back the government and to make our public officials truly servants of the people; that common ordinary citizens through hard work and diligence can expose the pretense of using good science to justify the use of risk assessment to evaluate public health; that government does not always act in the best interests of its people; and that the major challenges facing any organization are combating apathy and convincing the membership that “you can fight city hall.” Your individual efforts and participation do make a difference, though success does not come easy.

• Alonzo Spencer Save Our CountyEast Liverpool, OH

Owning our community• How to make

environment an interest issue for all:– Never go outside the

experience of your people

– Wherever possible go outside of the experience of the enemy.

– A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.

– Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it .

– Keep the pressure on,

Planning Process for Communities

• Where are we now?

• Where are we going?

• Where do we want to be?

• How do we get there?

• Let’s go…

Environmental Organizting Initiators

Sense of ConditionSense of PlaceConsensus Process

Goals

MISSION:

Organize, Plan, Assess

ENACT STRATEGIES

Assess Progress

Re-Evaluate

React to NewInformation

Information on:

- Ecosystem health

- Local economy

- Local quality of

life

Ecosystem Qual of Life Local Econ

Vision of Ideal Community

Involve Stakeholders

Sense of Place Sense of Conditions

Poverty & Environmentalism: Why is this a challenge

• We outnumber our adversaries nearly 20-to-1 but they keep us divided and therefore conquered. They (the few) rule us (the many) because we don’t yet see that all our issues have a common thread --whether its toxics, or poverty, or homelessness, or bad housing, or lousy schools, or money that steals elections, or good jobs shipped overseas, or low-wage jobs that are boring and dangerous with no benefits, or crappy food, or white supremacy, or seniors tossed aside, or stupid wars, or unaffordable medical care, or unsafe neighborhoods, or sprawl, or women disrespected, or no mass transit, or children who go to bed hungry -- it all boils down to this: the economy and the government are not being run for the benefit of the people who do all the work and create everything. It’s all being run by and for a handful of greedy @#$&*%#! who only care about themselves. And we could change it all if we just decided to get together, make a plan, and do it.

• Peter MontagueEnvironmental Research FoundationNew Brunswick, NJ

North St. Louis

• High Unemployment

• Middle Class Flight

• Significant population Loss

• Highway Construction

• Redlining

• Urban Ills

• Changing Values

• Perceptions

Current Demographics

• 90.49% African American

• 17501 households• No Major Institutions• $15000 household

income• 40% families in

poverty• 27% unemployment

rate• 74% housing

occupancy• 50-75% renter• 6% Bachelors Degree

- US Census 2000

Community Self Help

• Self-help groups are voluntary unions of peers, formed for mutual assistance in accomplishing a specific purpose.

• Self-help originates from industrialized countries and was initially a bottom-up approach but has been adapted in many developing countries to make up for lack of services.

• Time Dollar program at Grace Hill promotes community self help by giving neighbors incentives to barter services.

Grace Hill Settlement House

• Community Self Help Model–MORE Program

–Neighborhood College

–STAES

–Neighborhood Centers

–Head start Centers

–Economic Development

Educating community members on the issues

• Clean Air – In The Air Class

• Making Clean Air easy

• Local health fairs/back to school/community development fairs

• Environmental Events

• Work with other environmental groups

• Quarterly Stakeholder Meetings

Partnerships/Collaborations

• Building Relationships

• Increasing community pressure

• Responding to business interests (save money, good publicity, less govt. intrusion)

Involving government Institutions

• EPA Care Grant

– Level 1 offers communities about $75,000 to establish collaborative partnerships and set priorities for reducing toxic risks in their environments.

– Level 2 offers about $300,000 to communities that already have a broad-based collaborative partnership, have identified priorities, and are ready to implement risk-reduction strategies.

Involving Government Institutions

• Department of Natural Resources

–Clean Air Partnership

–Area Sources

• East West Gateway

• City of St. Louis

• St. Louis School Board (Administrators)

Clean Air Accomplishments

• Created list of sources: MSD, PD George, Mallinkrodt, Coal Stockpile on Hall Street and School Buses, increased response time on area source emissions via hotline

• Created community initiated program to reduce emissions of all six EPA toxins of concern.

• Clean air zones set up in all 88 schools in the City Public School District

Area Point Sources

• Air Quality Stakeholder Meetings

• Clean Air Classes

• Recruited members of the community to work with a mediator and local businesses.

• Community makes demands and works with businesses to carry them out

• If businesses don’t comply, community members organize response

Mobile Sources

• Clean Air Classes


• Work with School Board, School Administration, Laidlaw Bus Company

• Recruited volunteer monitors

• Set up clean air zones in City Public School District

• Monitors watched 10 of these schools

• Substantial decrease in School bus idling

Area sources

• Clean Air Class


• Incentives at Community Events

• Appealing to community needs/interests

• Higher Level of hotline Calls

Sustainable Development

“development that maintains

or enhances economic

opportunity and community

well-being while protecting

and restoring the natural

environment upon which

people and economies

depend. Sustainable

development meets the

needs of the present without

compromising the ability of

future generations to meet

their own needs”

Low Income Sustainable Communities

• Transportation planning/Traffic maintenance –Riverfront Trail

• Water & Sewage –Work with MSD

• Functional Green Space – increasing urban wildlife, native planting reduces water waste, fuel


• Community Economic Development –North Side Farmers Market, Mary Meachum Project, New Roots Urban Farm, Larry Rice

Questions

environmental activism in low income communities

Documents