Planning for Environmental Justice

Editor's Note: Environmental justice (“EJ”) must have a face, because EJ is more about people than the environment. The environment is all around us, but we don't all live in the same environment. Hear the words of Lula Williams, president of South Camden Citizens in Action, from New Jersey: I live in Waterfront South. We have so many industries, we have more than anywhere else in the state. We have co-gen, burning factory, cement factory, sewage plant—if you name them, I will claim them. We have so much air pollution because of all the industries. We have soot and we live in it, we eat it, we breathe it everyday, we breathe in mercury, lead, it's all in this community that's only 20 blocks long. We have children that are born too small, we have a high number of asthma and lung trouble, people are sick, we don't even know why. All this has to do with the mind and the chemicals you breathe everyday. They offered us air conditioners, but not relocation. Sometimes we have to pray for our leaders—sometimes they don't hear us, but just because we are poor doesn't mean we don't have the right to fresh air and good health. DEP gives out the permits and we are fighting for no more permits, no more industry—we want them to clean up. (www.njeja.org/PDF/assembly2005.pdf) Remember Lula Williams as you read Professor Arnold's commentary, excerpted from an upcoming Planning Advisory Service Report entitled Fair and Healthy Land Use: Environmental Justice and Planning. We have also included important EJ resources and a short bibliography of the “best of the best” EJ books at the end.