Worksheet #4

Environmental justice boils down to the fair treatment of everyone in our environment regardless of race or any sort of background. Environmental racism is racial discrimination found within environmental policies. One example of environmental racism is perhaps a city or county dumping pollutants into native territory. One other example of environmental racism could be the Flint Michigan water crisis. As a student at WSU who is studying civil engineering at WSU, environmental justice is something that is becoming more of a common theme as I get closer to graduating. It is an engineer's number one priority to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. This means the public as a whole. It doesn't mean we take better care of specific groups of the public than others. The biggest environmental injustice that I have come across in my life is looking at how little free land Native Americans have been left with. Not only that, many food sources like fish have been polluted to the point where fish should no longer be a regular part of anyone's diet. One key takeaway from Mohai et al. is that sound environmental policy making is one important step in avoiding environmental racism and injustice. The needs pf everyone must be considered before policies are to be put in place. Another key takeaway from Mohai et al. is that environmental injustice can often occur without malicious intent. It is important for policymakers to stay well informed.