Originally posted on EquityBlog, a project of PolicyLink

By Shireen Malekafzali, PolicyLink Health Associate

TAKE A BREATH...sounds easy huh? Well, not for one in every seven kids in the US.

The lead poisoning of children is a silent epidemic in this society.  If terrorists were poisoning babies and creating brain damage among thousands of our babies, we'd invade a few countries that were not involved.  But childhood lead poisoning is doing just that.

This is an issue you don't hear much about.  Barack Obama has long fought for our children against the scourge of childhood lead poisoning.

"As both a father of two young daughters and a lawmaker, it pains me to think that each year nearly 28,000 children needlessly suffer from lead-paint poisoning," said Obama. "We need to take immediate action to protect our children by ensuring that dangerous lead-paint is cleaned up properly."

More after the fold.

Let's not forget that NAFTA also means free cross border transport of toxic and hazardous waste.   The current example appears in today's Federal Register with a pending comment period on Mexican PCB waste coming to Texas.

Today marks an important anniversary, a date that reminds us that out of struggle comes progress.  On April 16, 1968, the city of Memphis relented and recognized the Memphis sanitation workers' right to organize a union.  We know all too well the costs of that struggle; today let us remember it achieved an important victory.

Forty years ago, an assassin's bullet ended Martin Luther King, Jr's life. Left behind has been a powerful legacy, one that has helped shift the American ethos toward something better than what might have been without King. Within his legacy are some of the most recognized words of American history ...

I have a dream ...

At this time, in Memphis, over 1000 people are gathered for The Dream Reborn,  a conference dedicated to commemorate the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, and to "present positive solutions for social and environmental equity from today’s generation of visionary leaders."

June 2007:
It is no surprise that government decisions can be bought and paid for. What has been a surprise to me is the Ohio EPA ordering Cincinnati's Board of Health to approve a license on behalf of Waste Management, despite an organized neighborhood outcry. Campaigns like this have worked in other states, it seems Ohio is as resistant to change as ever.

On February 12, 1968, sanitation workers in the city of Memphis decided to walk off the job.  This decision set events in motion that have shaped our history every since.  

Following my diary on the relationship of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the struggle for environmental justice, a comment requested a diary on the evolution of environmental justice terminology.  This diary is a briet attempt to show (with relevant links for further reading) how the terms environmental racism and environmental justice have been used, debated, and contested in the roughly quarter of a century since the terminology came into use.  This is by no means a comprehensive summary of environmental justice activities or scholarship, so any additions, corrections, or elaborations in the comments are highly encouraged.

This is a book review of Joan Martinez-Alier's 2002 classic "The Environmentalism of the Poor."  This is a book about the history of environmentalism that tries to fit the struggles of native peoples into that history.  

My last review was of a recently-published biography of Sup Marcos, the EZLN (Zapatista) figure; my next review will to a certain extent integrate the insights of Zapatismo into Martinez-Alier's framework.  This, to a certain, extent, forms the knowledge background for my interest in people's movements (centered on, but not exclusive to, peasant movements) as a counterweight to the environmental predations of the mainstream of capitalist industry.

(Crossposted at Docudharma)

As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and consider the effects Dr. King's work have had on the United States, I want to highlight an often overlooked aspect of that work, how Martin Luther King and the civil rights struggle have influenced American notions of environmental health and justice.  

Alaska's wild salmon run each summer has to be one of the most amazing and beautiful spectacles on Earth.  From May through August millions of King, Pink, Chum, Silver, and the gorgeous (and delicious) Red/Sockeye salmon complete their life's migrations from tiny fry, out to sea for two to three years, and back to the very stream from which they emerged. The Bristol Bay watershed is home to the world's largest Sockeye salmon run, is a dominant habitat for the four other Alaskan salmon species, and hosts several of the world's most pristine and productive trout fishing streams.

Canadian company Northern Dynasty and British company Anglo American, partners in developing the "Pebble Mine" project, are seeking approval to develop the largest open-pit gold, copper, and molybdenum "mining district" in North America, and possibly the world.  If it is approved, the mine will sit directly above the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.

Details below~~

On July 25th 2007, Hillary Clinton presided over the first-ever senate hearing devoted to environmental justice where she proclaimed "Today, millions live in fear that the air in their neighborhoods is unsafe to breathe, the water unfit to drink, their home an unhealthy place to raise their children. Far too many Americans with lower incomes or from communities of color are confronted with higher levels of pollution, putting their children and families at risk. It’s separate, it’s unequal, and it’s wrong.  We must pressure the Bush Administration and do all we can to once again make fighting this inequity a priority for our nation."  

The New York Times has published a ground-breaking piece on the environment in China, "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes." The key point to take away is one that I have tried to explain but have had trouble communicating. The ramifications of environmental decisions in China occupy a dramatically different political space than it does here. Environmental "issues" in China are core and personal, the daily difference between life and death for hundreds of millions, every day. In the West, we fundamentally misunderstand the role of pollution and the environment in China. We also don't recognize the global injustice being conducted in the name of our prosperity in China.

Crossposted from It's Getting Hot in Here - Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement.

My friend Margaret Goodwin also from DMIBlog hails from New Orleans and wrote this post today about the toxic FEMA trailers what it all means.

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Being a native of New Orleans, I am constantly appalled, yet not surprised by FEMA's actions with regard to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  However, the current revelation of FEMA's complete botching of the recovery effort amazes me. According to the Washington Post, "The Federal Emergency Management Agency since early 2006 has suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in government-provided trailers with levels of a toxic chemical 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers."  

After decades of fighting between blue-collar unions and green activists, the steelworkers and the Sierra Club say they will use the alliance to battle for energy independence and against global warming and toxic pollutants.

Why could this be a watershed moment?  Environmentalists have been stereotyped as overeducated upper middle class white people. When it comes to the bigger enviro organizations, the stereotype has not been far off the mark.

 But the brutal fact is that working people, people of color and poor people suffer disproportionately from pollution, chemical contamination in the workplace and the neighborhood, and toxic waste. Regarding Indian reservations we may hear nothing but casino casino! but they happen to be a favorite dump sites for toxics, including nuclear waste Locate a Wal-Mart, and there is likely to be a toxic site nearby. This is apart from the general effect of pollution and the Climate Crisis on all of us. So why isn't environment an issue in these places?

MEND, a group of Nigerian militants responsible for recently kidnapping then releasing oil workers, has released a statement responding to the Nigerian government's announcement of a committee to study economic development in the Niger Delta.  The meeting had been boycotted by activists.  MEND's statement reads in part:

There are a few good things, but it is mostly bad news.

This document shows the real impacts of an endless war in Iraq and more tax breaks for corporations and the rich.

Does a similar analysis of impacts on Social Programs cuts exist? If so, please post.