Final Paper Proposal: Option Number One- Social Issue Not Covered in Class

Planned Topic: Climate Justice

What is Climate Justice?

Climate justice “insists on a shift from a discourse on greenhouse gases and melting ice caps into a civil rights movement with the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts at its heart,”- Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and Chair for the UN General Assembly’s High-level Meeting on the Protection of the Global Climate for Present and Future Generations in March 2019.

Why Have I Selected This Topic?

Although I have always tried to cut down on my own consumption and made personal efforts to live green, I first started to focus my attention on teaching climate change when taking Digital Media Literacy in the summer of 2019. Throughout the course, I started to become more aware than I had ever been about social injustices and began to think about climate change through the lens of social justice. Climate change is something that I feel is important and conservation and preservation are critical to humanity’s and other species' survival. I thought that by teaching my students about recycling, composting, and by establishing relationships with “green” organizations like Clean Ocean Access and Earth Matters 4 Kids, I would be contributing to the decrease of damage to our planet and be advocating for justice. I did not realize that even using my new lens, I was only scratching the surface. Over the course of this semester, the instrument I view the world through has changed from a lens of social justice to a microscope. This semester we have examined precise details of injustice, prompting me to focus more thoroughly on how my role as a science teacher and an abolitionist teacher tie together. When researching the concept of Climate Justice, I was stunned by some of the information listed below which prompted me to think about how important it is for me to find new ways to make a difference. These points are a big part of my “why” I have chosen Climate Justice as the topic of my final paper. 

• There are those who deny Climate Change, often those who stand to receive monetary gains from the continuation of environmentally damaging practices. 
• Communities of color stand a greater health risk from air pollution. (NAACP and American Lung Association)
• Poor and vulnerable populations are the first and hardest hit when it comes to severe weather and natural disasters. 
• The elderly and disabled populations have a harder time physically when it is excessively warm and struggle for safe evacuation in areas hit by massive wildfires.
• Language barriers prevent certain populations from receiving emergency warnings and are an obstacle when communicating with first responders during times of crisis. 
• Drought and flooding cause food shortages and price increases that are detrimental for lower-income families. 
• Indigenous populations exiled to low lying areas are forced out to higher ground due to drought and flood. 
• Populations with limited income live in subsidized housing units that are located in flood plains. (Redlining to locales with undesirable geographic conditions) This type of housing is plagued with inadequacies like poor insulation, mold, and lack of air conditioning and filtration systems. 

Ideas/Readings

Scientific causes of the immense damage from Hurricane Katrina (Displacement of  Mississippi River, Removal of Marshlands  Inadequate Levies, etc) Related Reading: Crenshaw When Black is a Pre-existing Condition

Parallels to the unequal effects of COVID-19 Related Readings: Green, M. Coronavirus strikes Latino families and Lindsey, T. Why COVID-19 is hitting Black Women So Hard

Access to adequate resources Related Reading: In Sickness and Wealth ( ex. Louisville)