While environmental justice research has focused on various socially disadvantaged groups such as racial/ethnic minority and lower socioeconomic status individuals, people with disabilities have not received adequate attention in previous empirical studies. This entry reviews recent quantitative studies conducted in the USA that sought to analyze the distributive environmental justice implications of various environmental pollution sources, risks, and disasters for people with disabilities. For this entry, empirical environmental justice studies that included people with disabilities are classified into two broad categories based on their emphasis on: (1) exposure to environmental hazards and pollution (hazardous facilities and particulate air pollution) and (2) vulnerability to climate-related disasters and extreme events (hurricanes, heatwaves, and winter storms). The evidence from these case studies indicates that people with disabilities and specific disability types are significantly more likely to live in environmentally hazardous areas and be adversely impacted by natural disasters, compared to those without disabilities—both nationally and in specific urban areas of Texas. Studies that used an intersectional approach to disaggregate the disability category into relevant subgroups also demonstrate that socially disadvantaged people with disabilities, based on older age, racial/ethnic minority, below poverty, and unemployed status, including those residing in federally subsidized housing, experienced higher pollution exposure and more disaster-related negative impacts, compared to other people with disabilities. This entry concludes by highlighting data limitations and future needs associated with empirical environmental justice research on environmental hazards, risks, and disasters for people with disabilities.

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Environmental Injustice

  • Jayajit Chakraborty,
  • Simran Koul

摘要

While environmental justice research has focused on various socially disadvantaged groups such as racial/ethnic minority and lower socioeconomic status individuals, people with disabilities have not received adequate attention in previous empirical studies. This entry reviews recent quantitative studies conducted in the USA that sought to analyze the distributive environmental justice implications of various environmental pollution sources, risks, and disasters for people with disabilities. For this entry, empirical environmental justice studies that included people with disabilities are classified into two broad categories based on their emphasis on: (1) exposure to environmental hazards and pollution (hazardous facilities and particulate air pollution) and (2) vulnerability to climate-related disasters and extreme events (hurricanes, heatwaves, and winter storms). The evidence from these case studies indicates that people with disabilities and specific disability types are significantly more likely to live in environmentally hazardous areas and be adversely impacted by natural disasters, compared to those without disabilities—both nationally and in specific urban areas of Texas. Studies that used an intersectional approach to disaggregate the disability category into relevant subgroups also demonstrate that socially disadvantaged people with disabilities, based on older age, racial/ethnic minority, below poverty, and unemployed status, including those residing in federally subsidized housing, experienced higher pollution exposure and more disaster-related negative impacts, compared to other people with disabilities. This entry concludes by highlighting data limitations and future needs associated with empirical environmental justice research on environmental hazards, risks, and disasters for people with disabilities.