A: The environmental-justice movement was never about creating little black Greenpeaces or little brown Environmental Defenses or little red Audubon Societies. These organizations have their expertise and when we can work together and maximize our strengths, that's when we win.
There's division of labor that can work to the advantage of this whole movement. When the mainstream national environmental groups pair up with environmental-justice groups that have the ability to mobilize large numbers of constituents -- to get people marching and filling up those courtrooms and city council meetings -- that's when you can talk about an environmental movement.
A great example of how it should be done is happening right now in Louisiana. The Natural Resources Defense Council is partnering with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network to work on testing and issues of environmental justice after Katrina. NRDC brings a lot of expertise, but is respecting those organizations based in New Orleans and Cancer Alley. They're really showing how a national group and local groups can form a relationship that is principled.
Q: So you're hopeful?
A: On our side we have lots of committed troops on the ground and a growing movement of young people. Because of the way race operates in this society, there are some people -- poor white people, for example -- who have been given blinders; they're blinded by racism and have voted against their own best interests. When we take the blinders off and allow every single American to rise and reach his or her potential without these artificial barriers, then we could really become a great country.
Q: What environmental-justice issues might we be surprisingly close to breaking through on?
A: Globally we've got a long way to go, but the fact is we don't have a lot of time -- I think that reality will force collaboration. An awareness that what we do in the developed world doesn't just impact us is now pretty much a given. But we have to move that to another level of action and policy: the framework that environmental justice has laid out can resonate across a lot of developing countries.
In the end, I think we'll be able to get our message out because it's based on principles and it's based on truth and justice.
Gregory Dicum is the author of Window Seat: Reading the Landscape from the Air. He writes a biweekly column for SFGate, the online edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Mother Jones, and others.
This piece first appeared in Grist. For more environmental news and humor sign up for Grist's free email service.
