Environmental Justice in the U.S.
Two innovative solutions that governments could implement to promote environmental
justice in the U.S. are the creation of community-led environmental review boards and the
implementation of a progressive carbon tax with a dividend system. First, federal and state
governments could create bottom-up organizations for environmental assessment of the former
victims of environmental discrimination. Such boards would consist of local people,
environmentalists, and members of the vulnerable groups in the society. They could also be
empowered to approve or give opinion on affectations of industrial projects, urbanization and
environmental policies that may affect their societies. In this, there is consideration of issues
related to achromatopsia as well as environmental racism.
It’s achromatopsic because while it does not single out any race it seeks to provide an
empowering provision of the services to the local community color blind it is not race blind. It
also speaks to environmental racism by guaranteeing that people of color, who have been
previously disproportionately exposed to hazardous environmental conditions receive a solid
influence concerning decisions affecting their environment and subsequent physical wellbeing.
The review boards would be in a position of explaining, changing or even halting projects
that are likely to adversely affect the local environment or worsen the case of environmental
injustices. They would also take a point of carrying out a routine environmental health check of
their environment s and proposing measures to be taken in case the environment proved
unhealthy for habitation. This solution should be embraced because it levels the power dynamics
that have resulted in the systematic establishment of sacrifice zones in vulnerable societies.
Secondly, taxation can be used whereby the federal government places a progressive
carbon tax with the funds to be shared among the populace as a dividend. Therefore, the tax on
emissions would be set with the higher tariff for bigger emitters of carbon. This amount would be
collected in form of a tax, and the collected amount would then be shared with the citizens in a
form of dividend pay, where the needy or rather the less fortunate would part of larger share.
This solution is not only correct for achromatopsic people but also for environmentally racist
people. It’s achromatopsic in that it impacts all carbon emitters without regard for their addresses
or the racial and ethnic composition of the neighborhoods in which they reside However, it also
solves environmental racism by offering more incentives for people below the poverty line in
general, meaning that people of color who live in the areas with high pollution rates get more
benefits.
Due to the nature of the tax, progressive in terms of emissions, the large emitters,
commonly found in or around vulnerable populations, would need to decrease their emissions
more rapidly. However, the dividend system would offer some funding to ensure that as the poor
households switch to a clean energy cause by the carbon tax, they do not experience a high cost
of energy. This approach also content with combating the effects of carbon emission on the
environment but as well as dealing with the social inequalities that are commonly associated with
environmental injustice. In this way, the proposed solutions are seen to tackle both the
achromatopsic and environmental racist aspects of environmental injustice, which is a socially
desirable goal for the United States.