But when an Inuit fisherman has to import frozen seal meat because he cannot take it safely from a bay fouled by an oil spill resulting from the rush to meet soaring demand for gasoline, that is a justice issue. Recycling is an environmental issue. But when an African-American develops lung cancer from breathing fumes emitted from an incinerator in her neighborhood that burns recyclable trash, that is a justice issue. The greenhouse effect is an environmental issue. But when a Pacific islander discovers that the rising sea level resulting from profligate energy use in the developed world will obliterate her low-lying nation within decades, that is a justice issue.
Organic food is an environmental issue.
But when a Guatemalan banana worker becomes sterile from pesticide exposure, that is a justice issue. Perhaps the greatest justice issue of all is intergenerational theft. When we speak of community, we must understand that community occurs not merely in space, but also in time, extending backward through memory and tradition and forward through vision and legacy. Today,s political leaders seem oblivious to any future beyond the next election. However reckless a lifestyle we might choose for ourselves, however little we may value other species, surely we owe our descendants a duty of care.