Welcome to the Environmental Justice Study Guide!

Environmental justice is a term born of the movement of people fighting injustice on their land. The phrase gained mainstream awareness when Black residents of Warren County, North Carolina organized and protested a toxic waste landfill in their community in 1982. This monumental action demonstrated a larger trend- that climate change and environmental degradation disproportionately affects underprivileged communities in the United States and around the world. 

This study guide was created in hopes of providing information to members of the Skidmore community to educate themselves and their peers about environmental justice and the destructive force that is environmental racism. Environmental racism refers to the trend of disproportionately burdening low-income, minority neighborhoods with environmental hazards, including toxic waste facilities, landfills, and pollutants. 

This digital guide is filled with a plethora of different types of resources discussing environmental justice, environmental racism, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the environmental movement. We hope that folks will turn to this resource to learn more about the history of environmental justice and to share potential steps we can take moving forward to make our world a safer, healthier, and more equitable place. Education is the gateway to do the work we need in our society to increase health, justice, and peace for our interconnected world.

We welcome contributions of resources to this Study Guide and collaborations around this work. Please email sustainability@skidmore.edu to connect with us.