How Caring for the Earth Fits into the Consistent Life Ethic
by Christina Yao Pelliccioni
I was in high school the first time I realized that what humans are doing to the environment is affecting the most vulnerable among us. I went to an environmental conference at another high school, willing to do anything I could to go on an extra field trip. Looking back on it, this was really the first conference I ever went to, aside from being dragged to Church conferences with kids that annoyed me. But the other students at this conference inspired me – they were serious about helping the earth! One group had even snuck into their cafeteria and stolen all the styrofoam, forcing their school to have more sustainable materials. My teenage brain simultaneously feared and adored those who would risk getting in trouble to make the point that sustainability was important.
The most important thing I learned from the conference, however, was that climate change was leading some groups of people to leave their homelands. It was affecting impoverished people halfway around the globe who hardly caused much pollution at all. I knew that human-made climate change would cause devastation eventually (I mean, WALL-E had come out pretty recently), but I had no idea that how we are living here in the US could affect someone on another continent whose lifestyle was way more sustainable than ours.
This memory was prominent in my mind when I was wondering how to best frame environmentalism in the Consistent Life Ethic. I came to the conclusion that more than anything, environmental justice is a topic that needs to be stressed when we talk about how to best live out the Consistent Life Ethic. I first heard about the concept of environmental justice in college, I believe in relation to a group of children in Baltimore City not wanting a trash incinerator in close proximity to their school.
I looked to find a succinct definition for environmental justice, but had a hard time doing so. According to the EPA, “Environmental justice means the just treatment of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origins, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other federal activities that affect human health and the environment…” The Natural Resources Defense Council says that environmental justice is “an important part of the struggle to improve and maintain a clean and healthful environment, especially for communities of color, who have been forced to live, work, and play closest to sources of pollution.”
Despite the differences I found in definitions, the main theme of environmental justice sounds very much like the Consistent Life Ethic: each person, regardless of their circumstance, especially if they are in a particularly vulnerable circumstance, deserves protection from harm and an opportunity to thrive. Just because a child is born in poverty does not mean the child has any less of a right to clean water, air, or food. No one should have to suffer hardships because of climate change or endure poor health because of pollution.
I look forward to sharing more about environmental justice and how it relates to the Consistent Life Ethic, throughout Earth month and beyond!
=========================
For more of our posts that include environmental justice, see:
Stewardship and the Consistent Life Ethic
Climate Change and the Consistent Life Ethic: An Opportunity to Connect Issues
Lethal from the Start: Uranium Mining’s Danger to the Most Vulnerable
Threats to the Unborn Beyond Abortion
Leave a Reply