Environmental Justice Research Robert Bullard's Thoughts on the Current Environmental Justice Movement Robert Bullard, often thought of as the father of the environmental justice movement, has had a profound impact on the way scholars, politicians, and activists think about the linkages between race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and the environment. Since beginning his research and activism some 40 years ago, Dr. Bullard has written a number of texts, planned the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, which wrote the Environmental Justice principals that have guided the movement ever since, and chaired a subcommittee within the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, which played a prominent role in President Bill Clinton's 1994 Environmental Justice Executive Order. Dr. Bullard recently conversed with the Earth Island Journal to give his thoughts on the past, present, and future of environmental justice. This dialogue includes Dr. Bullard's explanation of the key actors involved in perpetuating environmental injustices, optimism at the increased youth participation in the movement, but worry at attacks on environmental preservation legislation and on differing conceptions of what constitutes a just environment for all. "Having a full-service grocery store, having a park, having green space, and having access to clean, affordable, and efficient transportation – we don't see those necessarily as amenities. We see those as basic to having a good quality of life" he states. Read more of Dr. Bullard's thoughts here. |  Image: © Romolo Tavani - fotolia.com |
