Impact of Environmental Justice on Health

Running Head : Environmental Justice Public Health

Environmental Justice Public Health

[Author 's Name]

[Institution 's Name]

Up until the 21st century , mainstream discussions of environmentalist issues have frequently been framed as a concern that is either spiritual or survivalist . Concern for the planet 's welfare is regarded as a moral obligation to the very creatures and habitats that have provided the resources that enabled industrial levels of growth and the abundant luxuries of the Global North . Such a perspective of environmentalism overlooks social dimensions which are a critical component in

the realization of its ideals . As Alex Steffen and Sarah Rich , the executive editors of online environmentalist journal Worldchanging , have observed environmental degradation is in itself a social injustice

.it 's become glaringly obvious that these [environmental movements and social justice movements] are inextricably linked - that environmental degradation is a civil injustice - and from the junction of the two , the environmental justice movement has emerged (Steffen Rich , 2007

Green-collar employment consultant Van Jones neatly summarized the questions which environmental justice asks in one question at the Green Festival in Chicago last year "Who are we going to take with us , and who are we going to leave behind " As both an environmental advocate and a proponent of social justice , Jones was ultimately concerned about how environmental activism is divided along class lines , where the `green demands ' of the upper classes take precedence over the welfare of the lower classes (Anderson , 2007

Therefore environmental justice concerns are those in which...