EPA & Spelman College Host Sustainability Conference

Collegiate Environmental Sustainability Conference

Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia

October 23-24, 2008

Now more than ever, economic and environmental benefits are critical to the sustainability of institutions. Energy efficiency, indoor air quality, water conservation, smart land use and more are essential components for a healthier campus. Remodeling and building with sustainable materials to meet the needs of growing campuses are key to reducing the impact on the environment, health, and resources. Environmental decisions now affect us economically later.

Make the right environmental decisions: join EPA and Spelman College in learning the dollars and sense of Going Green. Learn about benefits, success stories and resources available for Colleges and Universities. The window of opportunity is now!

Click here to receive electronic updates and further conference information. Check back often, information will be updated as it becomes available! Sponsored By: US EPA Region 4 and Spelman College

Call For Papers

Environmental Justice, a new peer-reviewed quarterly journal under the direction of Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, was launched last month and the response to the inaugural issue has been very enthusiastic. We invite you to submit your best work to the Journal to be considered for publication. Manuscripts received by July 15, 2008 may be considered for inclusion in our second issue.

Read the first issue online

View the instructions for authors

Environmental Justice welcomes papers on:

1) The adverse health effects on populations that are most subject to health and environmental hazards
2) The protection of socially, politically, and economically marginalized communities from environmental health impacts and inequitable environmental burden
3) The prevention and resolution of harmful policies, projects, and developments and issues of compliance and enforcement, activism, and corrective actions
4) Multidisciplinary analysis, debate, and discussion of the impact of past and present public health responses to environmental threats, current and future environmental and urban planning policies, land use decisions, legal responses, and geopolitics
5) Past and contemporary environmental compliance and enforcement, activism, and corrective actions, environmental politics, environmental health disparities, environmental sociology, and environmental history
6) The connection between environmental remediation, economic empowerment, relocation of facilities that pose hazardous risk to health, selection of new locations for industrial facilities, and the relocation of communities
7) The complicated issues inherent in remediation, funding, relocation of facilities that pose hazardous risk to health, and selection for new locations

Q & A at The State of EJ in America 2008 Conference

Many important environmental justice questions were addressed at the conference. Some of these questions included:

1) How can environmental justice and economic development co-exist?

2) How can we improve relations between communities and industry, communities and government, and government and industry?

3) What are examples of model environmental justice activities?

4) What have been the major accomplishments of the Executive Order on Environmental Justice?

5) Has the Executive Order improved matters in environmental justice communities?

6) Are the federal agencies committed to environmental justice?

7) Are businesses and industries committed to environmental justice?

8) What are the most significant environmental justice issues facing the country?

GRAND OPENING SESSION

The Grand Opening Session: The State of Environmental Justice in America was held in the Moot Court at the Howard University School of Law. Conferees were welcomed by Dean Kurt L. Schmoke, Howard University School of Law.

The Moderator for the session was Timothy Fields, Jr. and panelists included: Sue Briggum, Harold Mitchell, Charles Lee, Bill Kovacs, Billy Reese Kee, and Velma Charles-Shannon, Closing remarks were given by Associate Dean Okianer Christian Dark, Howard University School of Law.

William Kovacs

Bill Kovacs, above, was a panelist for the Grand Opening Session: The State of Environmental Justice in America. Mr. Kovacs is the Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Planning Process

This is a very important conference in that it addresses issues and challenges from diverse views and varied interests. The planning process has been open to all. We have enjoyed the advice and support from numerous community groups, governments at all levels, private industry and the academic community. The planning committee was open to all.

The decisions were made in the open and subject to review by many. Democracy works best when people are allowed to state their views, have them respected and get a thoughtful response. That is how the planning was conducted and committee members are still speaking to each other.

National Small Town Alliance
Mayor Marilyn Murrell, Chair

Timothy Fields, Jr.

Tim Fields, above, was the moderator for the Grand Opening Session: The State of Environmental Justice in America. Mr. Fields is Senior Vice President, Tetra Tech Em Inc and former Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to the Planning Committee for their commitment and participation in planning this conference. All participants and attendees owe the success of this conference to your dedication and support for environmental justice.

Billy Reese Kee, Chairman of the Board, Forgotten People

Chairman Billy Reese Kee, above, Chairman of the Board of the Forgotten People, was a presenter at the session on Tribal Perspective on Environmental Justice. He and Forgotten People consultant Marsha Monestersky presented environmental justice issues in the Navajo Nation. Stephen Etsitty, Director, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency also presented the agency perspective on environmental justice.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Environmental justice requires fair treatment and meaningful involvement for all in environmental decisions and actions. Fair treatment and meaningful involvement are four words with plain and clear meanings when taken at face value. However, when combined into terms and applied to issues related to environmental actions, they assume different meanings in different quarters for different people.

SPECIAL SESSION: EJ at the U.S. Department of Energy

Michael Loya, Gerald Boyd, Michael Owen, James Woolford, Jeffrey Allison

Special Session - Environmental Justice at the U.S. Department of Energy: A New Strategy and Implementation Plan

Moderator: James Woolford, Director, Office of Superfund and Emergency Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Panelists:

o Michael W. Owen, Director, Office of Legacy Management, U.S. Department of Energy
o Jeffrey M. Allison, Manager, Savannah River Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy
o Gerald Boyd, Manager, Oak Ridge Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Justice Strategy

On May 22, 2008 the U.S. Department of Energy announced its revised Environmental Justice Policy at The State of Environmental Justice in America 2008 Conference at the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman's message and the revised Environmental Justice Strategy may be found at DOE's Office of Legacy Management.