Article
The Unbearable Whiteness of Environmental Law.pdf
Center for Progressive Reform, symposium
(2023)
Abstract
This essay was published as part of a symposium on an article by John Knox and Nicole Tronolone titled Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights. Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights examines U.S. environmental law through a human rights framework and pointedly acknowledges its greatest shortcoming: the failure to address environmental racism. Responding to the article, this essay argues that this shortcoming is reinforced by the relegation of environmental racism to the periphery of the environmental law curriculum. This stands in sharp contrast to developments in legal practice. Environmental justice is increasingly central to the work of public interest environmental law organizations and state and federal environmental protection agencies. The essay offers best practices to integrate environmental justice into casebooks and classrooms to educate students about the dangers of colorblind environmental advocacy.
Keywords
- environmental racism,
- environmental justice,
- environmental law,
- environmental legal education,
- human rights and the environment
Disciplines
Publication Date
November, 2023
Citation Information
Carmen Gonzalez and Rebecca Bratspies, The Unbearable Whiteness of Environmental Law, Center for Progressive Reform Symposium on Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights, Nov. 2023, https://progressivereform.org/cpr-blog/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-environmental-law/#:~:text=In%20so%20doing%2C%20these%20casebooks,rather%20than%20social%20justice%20advocacy