You can’t talk about climate justice without racial justice. It’s a privilege to be able to separate these two heavily related issues. According to the Earth Island Institute, the hierarchical worldview of White supremacy means that value is measured by the profits and powers of that select group, to the detriment of everyone, and everything, including the planet. This is what happens when you put yourself above all others and Mother Nature. There are 2 key elements of destructive white supremacy that fuels the climate crisis: 1. It is deemed acceptable to mine and exploit the Earth without considering how it affects others and future generations. 2. Despite knowledge of the climate crisis, industries have continued to emit harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The entire fossil fuel industry was born our of slavery and colonialism. According to the Guardian, "Fossil fuel interests – oil, gas, and coal companies, fossil-fueled utilities, and fossil fuel investors - have colonized nearly every nook and cranny of energy and climate policy research in American universities, and much of energy science too. And they have done so quietly, without the general public’s knowledge." You'll even see entire climate denial studies funded by big oil. They have a ton of money and power to do this and yes majority of these rich multi-billionaires are white men. This would be like if public health research was funded by the tobacco industry and I'm sure if you did some digging you would actually find health studies funded by the tobacco industry trying lessen the dangers of smoking. White Supremacy has been normalized throughout history, in the 17th century John Locke, a philosopher said, “unused land was wasted land." This dangerous ideology has allowed the white people to steal the land of indigenous peoples time and time again. The massacres of Indigenous people happened because of white supremacy and dehumanization, they were called "savages" and seen a less than by the whites throughout history. If you are seen as less than, it is easier to make excuses when exploiting and killing your people. Even now white supremacy and this idea that you are worthy of having everything even if it hurts others is seen today. According to Rachel Allison (IRIS), "The historical concentration of industry and wealth in countries like the U.S and Europe means that they’re responsible for 79% of climate changing emissions." We consume way more per person in the west than the rest of the world (see stats here). Our consumer culture is fueling our climate crisis and is being driven by big corporations with this continent need for more. This racial inequality also means that the people most at risk from climate change have the fewest resources to adapt, according to the Washington post. This is evident, when natural disasters occur and will worsen with climate change. For example, "More than 30% of Black New Orleans residents didn’t own cars when Hurricane Katrina hit — making it almost impossible for them to evacuate." If you look at lower elevation levels in many places, you'll see that many poorer communities of color live there. There wouldn’t be a climate crisis if we valued everyone’s lives equally. Here are just a few of the examples of how white supremacy is hurting our people and planet:
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1/16/2023 06:02:02 am
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AuthorHi everyone, I’m Elizabeth! I am a Chinese American and Canadian environmental activist focused on creating awareness on environmental justice issues and tying them to fast fashion and our waste and climate change crisis. I’m very open about my mental health. I talk about these important topics on my platform Archives
March 2021
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