Week 10B: The Environment PDF

Week 10B: The Environment ------------------------- - Comments on Test 2 - How does economic inequality intersect with environmental impact? - What is environmental racism? How does economic inequality intersect with environmental impact? ---------------------------------------------------...

Week 10B: The Environment ------------------------- - Comments on Test 2 - How does economic inequality intersect with environmental impact? - What is environmental racism? How does economic inequality intersect with environmental impact? ----------------------------------------------------------------- - Greenhouse gas emission climate change - Carbon footprint \- Set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \- CO~2~e/capita (carbon dioxide equivalent per capita) Union of Concerned Scientists - Average Americans Carbon Emissions Union of Concerned Scientists (2012), www.uscusa.org - Economic inequality: closely related to carbon inequality (Oxfam (https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/mb-extreme-carbon-inequality-021215-en.pdf); (https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621052/mb-confronting-carbon-inequality-210920-en.pdf)) \- Poorest 50% globally = 7% cumulative global emissions \- Richest 10% globally = 52% cumulative emissions \- Richest 1% alone: 15% cumulative emissions - Emissions are highly unequal within and between countries  Oxfam (2015), *Extreme Carbon Inequality* - Poorest people (least responsible): \- Most vulnerable to consequences \- Women \- Rural communities \- Racial/ethnic minorities \- Least prepared to cope - What can we do as individuals? - Awareness - Environmental awareness -- higher among wealthy \- Green consumerism \- Not intention, but income determines footprint \- Consumerism itself problematic \- Focus on behaviours with relatively small benefit From David Roberts. (2018). "The best way to reduce your personal carbon emissions: don't be rich." vox.com - Collective action key - Acting not consumer but *citizens* What is environmental racism? ----------------------------- - Minority groups: disproportionate share of environmental hazards and polluting industries - More powerful countries/companies/groups transfer risks and costs to disadvantaged minorities - Location of toxic sites in areas with large African American and Latinx populations - Union Carbide gas leak (Bhopal, India) - Canada: Indigenous peoples \- [Grassy Narrows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zq85u2aZvk&t=14s)