In my paper, I explored the spatial association between environmental hazards, race, and income for zip codes in the state of Michigan.  The results of my analysis showed a strong association between zip codes having a high number of environmental hazards and zip codes having the highest minority populations.  Only with one environmental hazard variable,  the number of incinerator emissions per zip code, was there a strong association between the environmental hazards and both race and income.  This type of analysis has come to be understood as environmental justice.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as

        …the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures and incomes, with respect to the development,
        implementation, and  enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.  Fair treatment implies
        that no people should be forced to shoulder a disproportionate share of the negative environmental impacts of
        pollution or hazards due to a lack of political, economic, or educational strength.

While this is a very useful and helpful definition, environmental justice can be defined much more broadly.  In some situations, gender and age may also be important factors in terms of who is experiencing a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards.  Furthermore, environmental justice need not only look at the disproportionate burdens of negative environmental impacts, it can also include the disproportionate access to certain environmental amenities or resources.  Are particular groups not allowed equal access to the resources needed for production and survival? The framework that I will use to examine the relationship between my topic and the other papers is the framework of environmental justice.   My intent is to identify the environmental justice issues that may be present in each study.  I hope to work with the broadest possible definition of environmental justice in order to examine the potential for both disproportionate burdens and/or disproportionate access.

Iyer:  Urbanization in Moscow
 Here I believe the environmental justice concerns might include lower-income groups and the elderly.  As land and housing prices increase and with increased capital activity there will be inevitable dumping of undesirables (waste management facilities, polluting industries, etc.) in areas of the city with the least political and economic clout.  This has been the case in the U.S., but here the market economy is contained by certain environmental and housing regulations.  If such regulations do not exist in Russia, a laissez-faire economic system will inevitably create disproportionate burdens.  The elderly on state pensions may be the prime victims as they do not have the financial means to move out of areas that may become the environmental dumping groups of the new Moscow.

Chaudhury:  Deseritification in the Sahel
 An important environmental justice concern with this study involves what is happening to the nomadic peoples as more and more desertification control schemes involve moving people to settled agriculture lifestyles.  What is happening to the nomads as their way of life is curtailed?  There may be serious cultural implications as the Sahel transitions through a variety of changes designed to curtail desertificiation.  There are also numerous cases of environmental injustice in the eco-political history of the region.  What happened to people and the land due to the colonial forces that demanded a shift to export agriculture.

Kim: The Red River Delta in Viet Nam
 Despite centuries of intensive agriculture and a high population density, this region of Viet Nam is surprisingly stable and productive.  With the changes from sustainable production to a more market based economy, however, one should be aware of the development of injustices in terms of resource distribution and pollution.  In an ethnically homogenous society who are the groups that experience the environmental problems or are left out of the development agenda?  Women?  Children?  The elderly?

Wegbreit:  Weather Patterns and Dengue Transmission in Trinidad-Tobago
 Even within a small country like Trinidad-Tobago, one should be cautious of looking at “national” data.  While more regionally specific data collection is a much more difficult task, there may not be the same correlation between temperature, rainfall and dengue fever for different social groups.  Might the elderly or children be more at risk?  Or perhaps there might be a different based on household income?  It might seem that lower-income groups might have a greater potential to exposure, but if wealthier groups have a greater ability to store water in the household they might have a greater risk?  Expanding the original question to include more socio-economic variables would be very important for establishing public health policies and initiatives.

Manokham:  Deforestation in Southeast Asia
 Here I think one needs to ask more specific questions about the connection between deforestation, population growth and poverty.  Is the reason that deforestation is occurring as such a rapid rate in the region because of population growth and need to raise the standard of living?  It seems that in many cases, the deforestation is occurring because of the demand from foreign markets and the desire of national elites to exploit the resources and the market.  The plight of the Philippine poor did not improve from the deforestation of that country, but the Marcos regime did grow wealthier and more powerful.  In such situations, the poor are often exploited as much as the forestry resources.  Attempts at social forestry, which includes the interests of a variety of stakeholders seems a more appropriate effort to overcome some of the injustices associated with deforestation in Southeast Asia.
 
England:  Population Growth, Violence and Environmental Degradation in Burundi
 In this study the injustices based on ethnic and class tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi were clearly evident.  These injustices have led to severe and violent clashes between the two groups over the last several decades.  Recent initiatives such as the regroupment camps in which Hutu men (the ethnic majority) are confined will only exacerbate the tensions between the groups regarding access to land and environmental resources.  The government’s mandate that there be no discussion of ethnic differences makes the task of addresses the injustices between groups even more difficult.  However, if there are differences between the two groups based on class, perhaps development schemes and environmental programs could use that factor to seek a more equitable distribution of resources.  To deny the injustices that exist and to not seek to address them would seem to only lead to more violence.

Scaff:  German Reunification and Consequences to the Environment
 As with the Moscow study, it seems that the group that is experiencing the environmental burdens left by the East German political system are those that are not able to move to the West.  As noted in the presentation, this is often the elderly.  Furthermore, given the rapid and unmanaged growth in the East, what is happening with the inevitable waste generation?  Where is it going and how is it being handled?  The former political system left severe environmental scars on the land, are the “flexible” regulations of the new political system creating similar scars, and if so, who is bearing the burden?

Lo:  Urbanization in Sao Paolo, Brazil
 What has been the environmental impact of the dizzying urbanization of Sao Paolo and how has it affected different groups?  Along with incredible disparities in wealth, Brazil is also a racially diverse country.  Have certain groups bore the impact of urbanization more than others.  Do the environmental disamenities affect one group or groups more than others?  Or has the rapid growth of the city affected everyone equally despite if they live in a gated household or a favela.  It would seem that within a society with great income disparities there are also environmental disparities.  What are they?  How are they impacting public health, environmental policies, etc.?
 
 These comments are only suggestions for broadening any examination of the population-environment dynamic to include aspects of environmental justice.  Including environmental justice would allow for a more complete perspective on the political economy or the political ecology of a particular program, plan, or policy.  As human population grows we not only place greater demands on the environment, but we also place greater demands on each other.  We can no longer think of environmental regulations and environmental protection without determining the social impact of such programs.  Thus, any environmental policy of environmental management system needs to consider how various groups are being impacted by the related decisions and programs. To not do so, I believe, will only lead to greater environmental and social conflict and limit the potential for sustainability.