April 22, 2010
By Penn Loh, Professor, Tuffs University and
Kalila Barnett, ACE Executive Director

Green is “in” and here to stay. Not even the most powerful political and economic players can ignore the risks of climate change. In fact, the largest companies in the world have positioned themselves as our saviors in ushering in the green economy. But the question is, how much change does green really demand? Can sustainability efforts truly succeed without addressing racial and economic injustice?

Can the climate be stabilized without a fundamental transformation of the global economy? Can some of us go green while billions go hungry? Can the environment be made healthy only for those who can afford it, while people of color and the poor continue to live in degraded conditions? We say “no” to all of the above.

Coming from the environmental justice (EJ) movement, we have long realized that achieving racial and economic justice is not possible without fixing the unsustainable and inequitable economy. That’s because our communities have been the “dumping grounds” for all kinds of environmental problems. In conversation with other EJ movement allies and leaders, we realized that our local actions really do add up to a global vision. Collectively, we have been advancing a vision in which sustainability and justice – “justainability” – must be simultaneous results; one simply cannot happen without the other.

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