Disaster And Environmental Justice: Lessons For Post-Katrina America

"Hurricane Katrina opened a window on a world of hurt often ignored by media, policymakers, and the public. Facing enhanced environmental vulnerability and stranded by a lack of public transit,residents of the poorest and blackest neighborhoods of New Orleans quickly educated America that disasters and rescues are not equal opportunity affairs.

Among the few not shocked by the stark images splashing across television screens were scholars and activists in the field of environmental justice (EJ). These researchers study chronic risk, generally finding that lower-income minority communities, like those of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, are disproportionately exposed to hazards and other disamenities...This sort of “second disaster” for those with scantier economic and political resources seems to be playing out in the aftermath of Katrina. Many in the low-income neighborhoods ravaged by the hurricane are concerned that federal, state, and local officials will not prioritize their communities for cleanup and reconstruction, and worry that New Orleans will become little more than a theme park for tourists. Responding proactively to the impacts of Hurricane Katrina requires an eco-social approachâ€"one that makes explicit the connections between public health, the environ-ment, and social inequality."