The Promise and Peril of Environmental Justice

Book excerpt: The environmental justice movement remains structurally and ideologically unable to generate a focused policy agenda. It refuses to confront politically inconvenient facts about environmental health risks, the severe constraints impeding a grass-roots environmental approach to social justice, and the need to choose between environmental priorities. Ironically, environmental justice advocacy may also threaten the very constituencies it aspires to serve by competing for attention with the many significant health challenges that bedevil minority and disadvantaged populations. Foreman explains how we must sharpen our national dialogue concerning the environmental stakes of these populations and develop realistic public health approaches.