This discrimination manifests itself not just in the wilderness, but where we live, work and play. There are migrant farm-workers who are exposed to harmful pesticides daily, but are not allowed to organize for protection. There are chemical incinerators located upwind of poorer residential areas. Finally, there are native tribes struggling for sovereignty while simultaneously fighting to keep wind turbines out of the Columbia Gorge or for the right to fish sacred salmon in the Columbia River. Urban planning doesn t address the needs of the folks it affects.
Some environmentalists have the attitude that preservation is better than conservation.
It is these concerns, plus many more, which fuel a growing grassroots movement called Environmental Justice. While Environmental Justice has expanded to include other inequities beyond race, it is the coalition of people from various ethnicities that gives this movement its backbone. Often these groups meet in churches or community buildings to educate themselves about the law, monitoring or environmental audits of industry. Beginning in 1992 as an opportunity for students of color to voice dissatisfaction with the lack of attention given to environmental racism, CAER hosts an annual conference to rectify some of these inequities. CAER brings community activists together in a university setting to build coalitions with other communities and activists.