The environmental movement has often had the perception of being an overwhelmingly white and wealthy movement.  Afterall, people of color and low income individuals have more important things to deal with than organic oranges and fair trade coffee.  Yet, that is a misinterpretation of what environmentalism is all about.  A better frame for the movement is environmental justice, which correctly connects the concentration of poor air quality and drinking water in low-income, high-minority areas to a central part of the environmental movement.  A great article in the Washington Post yesterday aptly highlights both the contradictions of the movement and the incorrect framing it's received:

If you drive a Prius and buy tofu at Whole Foods, going green may be a lifestyle choice. If you live in a poor neighborhood near a toxic factory, going green is a human rights issue. The movement has been slowed by a divide that is visible in everything from local recycling policies to the complexions of environmentalists. On one side are mostly white middle- and upper-class populations with plenty of money and political clout. On the other side are minority and low-income communities with little of either.

Environmentalism needs to focus on the communities that bear the brunt of the ugly side of industrial development.

Let's be frank: The people most affected by environmental degradation aren't white or well-off. Fifty-six percent of the 9.2 million people who live within 1.86 miles of the country's most serious hazardous waste sites are people of color, according to a 2007 report for the United Church of Christ. Seven in 10 people living near clusters of toxic waste sites are minorities, the report found. Moreover, doctors believe that environmental factors may be partly to blame for the higher rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, birth defects and cancer found among people of color and low-income whites, according to several studies.

These are astounding statistics and should be front and center in the movement.  Such pollution also creates another "trap" for low income folks trying to realize the deam of social mobility.  The increased exposure to pollution leads to higher health care bills, higher insurance premiums, reduced property values and thus probably lower performing schools.  Government is supposed to act where the market fails, to address inequities and give us all a fair shake at the dice of life.  That's why it provides unemployment benefits and universal k-12 education.  Government also needs to act to deal with the gross inequities that the degradation of the environment has hosited on those with the smallest voice in politics as they become trapped in their efforts to create a better life.

Ok, so what else can we do about it?  If you're a college student or recent grad, one thing to do is to go to Powershift on November 2-5, the first-ever national youth summit to solve the climate crisis.  Go there and help shift the debate of environmentalism to one of environmental justice.