Analyze

A survey of DEQ employees conducted by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor Office in 2006 revealed the department’s challenges with poor communication and knowledge infrastructure. Employees noted in the survey a need for better mechanisms through which to share information within LDEQ (“about who does what and other issues”) and better training for new employees. 

Louisiana Legislative Auditor. 2006. “Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.”

https://app2.lla.state.la.us/publicreports.nsf/0/bbc259a7e7a73cfa8625713b002c8e7b/$file/00001572.pdf?openelement&.7773098.

Data advocacy: The Hawaii Budget and Policy Center was tasked with analyzing state spending on Native Hawaiian-related programs but shifted to data advocacy once the center realized that data on Native Hawaiians was not consistently collected. In 2021, the nonprofit, in collaboration with Papa Ola Lokahi, released a report to urge the state to improve data collection about Native Hawaiians through legislative action. They emphasize the need for greater accountability in state programs funded to help Native Hawaiians (Jung 2021), as well as “data sovereignty,” that is, Native Hawaiian involvement in decision-making (Kauahikaua and Pieper-Jordan 2021).

Mental health support: Environmental advocates have looked at not only physical health impacts, but the “cultural, spiritual and mental health impacts of land-use decisions” (Caulfield 2020). For instance, on the Waianae Coast of West Oahu, community members worked with mental health professionals to confront the mental health burden living in an area that hosts public utilities and is subjected to the negative perceptions attached to those facilities–that is, being seen as a “dumping ground.” Ethnic studies professor Laurel Mei-Singh describes this as a process of material and psychological “dumping” that is tied into forces of militarism, colonialism and racism. All along the coast, there are public utilities that include a municipal landfill, a power plant, a construction waste landfill, and a waste-to-energy burning facility. These facilities emit volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and carbon monoxide. People living in the area are disproportionately affected by cancer, asthma, and birth defects. However, the mental health toll of living in the area is not well studied, though census data shows that the Waianae Coast has the highest concentration of adults suffering from poor mental health on Oahu. Mei-Singh and mental health professionals hope knowledge of the history of the area can help local people recover and “reclaim their mo‘olelo (story)” (Kauanoe et al. 2021). 

Caulfield, Claire. 2020. “Is There Environmental Racism In Hawaii?” Honolulu Civil Beat. June 15, 2020. https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/is-there-environmental-racism-in-hawaii/.

Jung, Yoohyun. 2021. “Report Calls For Better Data About And For Native Hawaiians.” Honolulu Civil Beat. March 6, 2021. https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/03/report-calls-for-better-data-about-and-for-native-hawaiians/.

Kauanoe, Ku’u and Claire Caulfield. 2021. “From ‘Sacred Place’ To ‘Dumping Ground,’ West Oahu Confronts A Legacy Of Landfills.” Honolulu Civil Beat. December 5, 2021. https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/12/from-sacred-place-to-dumping-ground-west-oahu-confronts-a-legacy-of-landfills/. 

Kauahikaua, Lilinoe and Seanna Pieper-Jordan. 2021. “Improving Hawai‘i’s data policy to better serve Native Hawaiians.” Hawai’i Budget and Policy Center and Papa Ola Lokahi. /https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef66d594879125d04f91774/t/60514869451e1d09b75e4317/1615939719621/Data+Justice+Report_Interactive.pdf. 

"The “1-mile rule”: Texas’ unwritten, arbitrary policy protects big polluters from citizen complaints. It’s not found anywhere in state law or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s rules, but for years the agency has denied citizens the ability to challenge air pollution permits because they live more than a mile away." (Baddour 2023)

State power in Hawaii: The state of Hawaii was the first state in the US to declare climate emergency. They have a pretty extensive climate change portal. The state is also reported as enacting many progressive legislations, such as banning some sunscreens to protect coral reefs, raise the smoking age, commited to goals in Paris climate deal. It also aims to be dependent 100% on renewable energy by 2045. The state has also banned chlorpyrifos, a chemical that in other parts of the US is resulting into multiple disabilities for agricultural populations. 

According to the maunakeasyllabus, however, the state of Hawaii participates in production of Hawaiin culture as a resource that undermines self-determination. In their words: 

“For the state, the work entails producing Hawaiian culture as a resource that can be managed in the first place. (Yúdice 2004: 4). Culture-as-resource works in tandem with public trust jurisprudence to make feasible the settler state’s governance of the differences of Indigenous communities and the pasts that produce it… What is expedient about this rendering of Hawaiian culture is that the state can protect it, usually under a management plan, thereby safeguarding the resource-glue that presumably coheres Hawaiian community; and thus allows the settler state to conclude that it protects Hawaiian culture without having to address Hawaiian self-determination.”

1. Scientists at Columbia university estbalished a link between exposure to chlorpyrifos and alterations in brain structure

2. California Gov. Gavin Newsom banned chlorpyrifos in the state in may 2019

3. EPA banned the chemical in 2015. Trump admin reversed the ban. 

4. Cerda family: chronic exposure to chlorpyrifos, suing for general damages, compensatory damages due to Cerda’s loss in earning capacity, medical costs, and “punitive damages for the willful, reckless, and recklessly indifferent conduct of the Defendants,” 

Common challenges and concerns that organizations working in social justice and community development may face include limited resources, unequal power dynamics, systemic barriers, resistance to change, and complex social and political issues that require long-term solutions.

This organization was conceptualized in 2016 and officially notated as a non-profit in 2019, garnering it as reasonably new; with that comes challenges to bring about awareness and build communal support for OCEJ. As with other environmental justice organizations, the nature of the work and the mission to center marginalized communities present challenges and overcome historical and systemic oppressions that have contributed to disproportionate exposure to environmental harm.

Given the nature of environmental justice work, it is likely that this organization finds it challenging to address these issues related to environmental justice, public health, and education because of the systemic inequalities, lack of resources, and opposition from other stakeholders like corporate institutions with wealth and political power who prioritize profit over social and environmental justice.

 CCAEJ is likely to face many challenges and concerns regarding the problem spaces in which they work, which would include environmental injustice, community health, and land use planning. Some examples might include lack of political will, limited resources, complex and interconnected problems, systemic barriers, and community engagement and empowerment.

 The EHC faces several challenges and concerns in its workplace problem spaces. One barrier is inadequate resources; the EHC's staff and community leaders often meet significant workload demands, hindering the organization's ability to conduct research, organize communities, and engage in policy advocacy. The EHC also deals with political resistance, given that the organization's work often involves analyzing policies they have to take on powerful corporations and government agencies who resist change. Because Environmental Health Risks are complex, it is tough to identify and address. The EHC must often navigate complex scientific and technical information to identify sources of pollution and advocate for practical solutions. Additionally, many of these institutions make it extremely difficult to access such information in the first place, making it harder for low-income communities of color to engage in effective community organizing and advocacy. Historically, other forms of oppression and injustice, such as redlining, segregation, and other discriminatory policies, influenced the environmental health disparities they are dealing with today.