Opinion| Camden Payne
I was recently introduced to the subject of environmental justice and how important it is to our society. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and involvement of all people regardless of race, color, origin, or income, with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws.
Fair treatment means no group of people should have a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences that come from governmental and commercial policies.
Meaningful involvement means that people have the opportunity to have discussions and make decisions about activities that may affect their environment/health. Public interference and contribution can heavily affect the regulatory agency’s decision.
The concerns and important subjects of the community should be considered in this process of certain activities. Decision-makers will seek out the involvement of those potentially affected.
The environmental protection agency, also known as the EPA, is a government agency that works toward equal protection from environmental and health hazards. They also work toward equal access in the decision-making process in order to ensure everyone’s health in which we live, learn, and work.
If we do have safe and healthy places to live, learn, and work, we cannot focus or work to our full potential as if we had no distractions from bad health conditions.
If everyone works together toward one particular goal and helps to participate in discussions, we could make our world a lot healthier. In conclusion, environmental justice should be taken very seriously and should be a part of all our lives in some way or another.
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