Environmental Justice and Equity: Case Study New Orleans ENVA M294-J01 SYLLABUS
Professors: Phil Bucolo, Ph.D.; [email protected]; Monroe Hall 463 Marianne Cufone, J.D.; [email protected]; Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice (540 Broadway), Rm. 304 Aimée K. Thomas, Ph.D.; [email protected]; Monroe Hall 560
Office Hours: by appointment via Email
Class meetings January 4 - 15, 2021: MTWR Student’s Daily Class Preparation 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. MTWR Virtual Synchronous Class via Zoom 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. MTWR In-person experiential learning field trips 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Course Description: This course provides an overview of the challenges in environmental justice and equity in Greater New Orleans area communities, particularly those identifying as BIPOC and/or low-income, low-access to resources. Students will learn critical thinking and advocacy, integrating doctrine, theory, and skills. This course combines field trips, lectures, discussions, readings, videos, and reflections. Through a review of case studies, media coverage, science, and academic pieces, we will explore issues including systemic socio-economic and racial discrimination, ongoing environmental injustices, inequality in access to basic resources like air, water, land, and food, and other current events and issues.
Experiential learning field trips: This course includes a significant experiential component; there will be in-person, hands-on activities (with proper COVID precautions and social distancing). Students will learn and practice skills relative to becoming well-versed in the environmental injustices that are systemic in our culture. First-hand experiences in New Orleans will serve as the case study, but all issues will be transferable across the state, country, and world, thus adhering to the “Think globally, act locally” mantra.
Afternoon classes (depending on availability) may include: • Volunteer/tour Second Harvest Food Bank, to learn about their emergency food distribution, and assist in packing meals
1 • Watch a movie on “Cancer Alley” and how environmental pollution can lead to health risks and illness. • Visit Sankofa site in 9th Ward and learn about environmental rehabilitation • Meet members of the Growing Local Collaborative to learn about food security and work to make systemic changes in our local food system. A work day at the farm! • Participate in a community cleanup (nurdle spill along the MS River) • Speak with the Lowlander group and members of the First People’s Conservation Council to discuss climate change and loss of cultural assets/access to resources, Isle de Jean Charles connection to marsh habitat
Covid-19 related accommodations: This is a Hyflex synchronous course with mornings dedicated to lectures/readings/recordings and afternoons dedicated to in-person experiential learning field trips to locations around the Greater New Orleans region. In the event that a lecture has to be missed, a recording of the lecture will be available on Canvas. All lectures must be attended either live or soon thereafter to experience the course content completely.
Course Objectives: 1. To use New Orleans as a case study to see how communities face significant challenges, particularly with equity and resilience involving food, health, and our environment. 2. To discuss and explain aspects of science (natural physical phenomena that created our region), social implications (systemic racism), and law/policy (past and future) that help us understand these equity and resilience issues. 3. To provide an awareness and appreciation of ethnic and racial differences and inequalities in Nola communities. 4. To provide hands-on experiential learning opportunities that foster an open dialogue on equity and resilience in environmental issues. 5. To give back to our community through service-learning activities.
Textbook: No textbook will be required. There will be daily reading assignments in the form of articles, videos, and web links, all posted on Canvas.
Expectations of workload: This course is 3-credit hours. According to the Loyola University credit hour policy, you are supposed to spend at least 6300 minutes (that is 105 hours including 35 hours of classwork and 70 hours of out-of-class work) for the whole semester regardless of how many weeks it is offered. Therefore, in addition to synchronous class time, you can expect to do asynchronous class time as part of your daily pre/post class preparation as well as time on the weekend dedicated to the material.
2 Grading Distribution: This is subject to change as plans are finalized, but will be close to this. Daily Journal 20% Discussion Board Participation 20% Attendance/Class Participation 20% Final Presentation 20% Critical Reflection 20%
Grading Scale: 93-100 = A; 90-92 = A- 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B; 80-82 = B- 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 70-72 = C- 67-69 = D+; 60-66 = D < 60 = F
Daily journal: Students are expected to keep a journal daily. Each journal entry should include 1) an outline of the daily readings with added thoughts and insights gleaned during class discussions, 2) a summary of the field experience with added details upon completion, and 3) a reflection making connections with content studied and experiences. These should be thoughtfully written and meticulous so that you can optimize the experience. Journals are due on Canvas every night by 10 pm. You may submit as a .doc, .pdf, or .jpg. Professors may randomly review to ensure students are taking notes, writing ideas, making contacts, etc.
Discussion Board Participation: There will be a discussion board with a prompt relevant to several lecture topics posted. Thoughtful participation will be subjectively graded by the professors.
Attendance/Class Participation: You are expected to attend every class, to be prepared by reading the assigned material prior to class, arrive on time, and remain active throughout class. Attendance will be recorded each class. You will be called upon during class to answer questions pertaining to the current topic and to share experiences. Students are encouraged to participate actively in class discussions and to raise questions about the material or point of view presented in the readings or lectures. Everyone—professors and students alike—will benefit from an energetic and informed exchange of ideas. In addition, starting on January 5th, each class will have 3 student reading leaders (assigned alphabetically). Student reading leaders should be prepared to present the “take home” message from readings, and ask questions or drive home main topics discussed in and by the class.
3 Final Presentation: Part of your final grade will be based on a professional in-class presentation (6-8 minutes) on a topic of your choosing relative to this course. Presentations should include a PowerPoint presentation that introduces the topic to the class in an interesting and informative manner, explains the issue relative to environmental justice/equity and science, and explains any recommendations on how to resolve the issue based on what you learned in the course. Use of visual aids (charts, graphs, photos), are strongly encouraged in your presentation, to tell your story.
Critical reflection: Discerning Minds: Experience. Reflect. Transform: Critical thinking is “a systematic way to form and shape one’s thinking. It is thought that is disciplined, comprehensive, based on intellectual standards and, as a result, is well reasoned” (Richard Paul from the Foundation for Critical Thinking). Once you have completed the experiential learning course, you will write a critical reflection about the experience. This should include a critical examination of what you think you know by evaluating the evidence that you have and the conclusions you have drawn from it. Specific prompts will be provided during the second week of the course.
Preliminary Class Schedule (any changes will be conveyed as soon as possible) Week 1:
January 4th - Introduction to Environmental Justice and Equity What does justice mean? Equity? How does science factor in? Topics we will cover in this course. Overview of course and syllabus. Expectations and grading. Experiential learning opportunities. Individual presentations. Q and A.
Withgott Jay & Laposata Mathew, Environment: The science behind the stories 6th ed. 2019. excerpts on Ecosystem Services, Environmental justice, Sustainability, Biodiversity. Pgs 116, 137- 9, 153 - 4, 274 - 6. {link to canvas page pdf}
Ehlrich Paul R. The loss of diversity causes and consequences. In Wilson, EO (ed) Biodiversity. 1988. Harvard University Press. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK219310/
Amanpour & Co., Robert Bullard: How Environmental Racism Shapes the U.S., PBS, Mar. 3, 2020, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/robert-bullard-how- environmental-racism-shapes-the-us/.
Julian Agyeman, Robert D. Bullard & Bob Evans, Exploring the Nexus: Bringing Together Sustainability, Environmental Justice and Equity, 6 Space and Polity 77 (2002) (uploaded to Canvas)
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Deeohn Ferris, Environmental Justice: Moving Equity from Margins to Mainstream, Nonprofit Quarterly, Aug. 15, 2019, https://nonprofitquarterly.org/environmental-justice-moving-equity- from-margins-to-mainstream/.
Afternoon: Sankofa Lower Ninth Ward https://sankofanola.org/sankofa-nature-trail-and- wetland-park/ Meet at 1p.m. at 6401 Florida Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70117 if you are driving/carpooling or at the corner of Calhoun and Loyola Avenue (between Miller and Monroe Halls) at 12:15p.m. to ride in the Loyola University New Orleans van.
Reading and prep for next day’s class – figure out your individual topic for presentation. Post topic to Discussion Board 1a for review and approval!
January 5th – Pollution: air and land (“Cancer Alley” and Agriculture Street Landfill) Industrial pollution; chemical and other industrial manufacturing plants; communities of color; LULU (Locally Unpopular Land Use); NIMBY (Not In My Backyard).
Withgott Jay, & Laposata Mathew, Environment: the science behind the stories 6th ed. 2019. Chemistry and Physiological Responses to Air Pollution. pgs 453-5,7 482 - 3. {link to canvas page pdf}
Withgott Jay, & Laposata Mathew, Environment: the science behind the stories 6th ed. 2019. Toxicology and Landfills 361-2, 613 {link to canvas page pdf}
Lylla Younes, Al Shaw, and Claire Perlman, In a Notoriously Polluted Area of the Country, Massive New Chemical Plants Are Still Moving In, ProPublica, Oct. 30, 2019, https://projects.propublica.org/louisiana-toxic-air/.
Lauren Zenolli, If there's a spill, it's a disaster': living next to a giant lake of radioactive waste, The Guardian, Nov. 6, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/06/louisiana-st- james-parish-lake-radioactive-industrial-waste-cancer-town-pollution-mosaic.
Antonia Juhasz, Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” is Getting Even More Toxic – But Residents are Fighting Back, Rolling Stone, Oct. 30, 2019, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics- features/louisiana-cancer-alley-getting-more-toxic-905534/.
5 Lylla Younes, Why Louisiana's Air Quality is Going From Bad to Worse, in 3 Charts, ProPublica, Oct. 30, 2019, https://www.propublica.org/article/why-louisianas-air-quality-is-going-from- bad-to-worse-in-3-charts.
Rachel Ramirez, Wake-Up Call, Grist, May 4, 2020, https://grist.org/justice/as-coronavirus- ravages-louisiana-cancer-alley-residents-havent-given-up-the-fight-against-polluters/.
James Pasley, Inside Louisiana’s Horrifying “Cancer Alley,” an 85-Mile Stretch of Pollution and Environmental Racism That’s Now Dealing with Some of the Highest Coronavirus Death Rates in the Country, Business Insider, Apr. 9, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/louisiana-cancer- alley-photos-oil-refineries-chemicals-pollution-2019-11.
Samantha Willis, These Women Documented Louisiana’s Environmental Injustice in New Film Series, Essence, Apr. 11, 2019, https://www.essence.com/feature/women-of-cancer-alley- documentary/
And watch the videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2zMrq22-Y2t5jbGmwYB1-o443Daya6e0
Lauren Zanolli, ‘We’re Just Waiting to Die:’ The Black Residents Living on Top of a Toxic Landfill Site, The Guardian, Dec. 11, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us- news/2019/dec/11/gordon-plaza-louisiana-toxic-landfill-site.
Richard Webster, The Poisoned Promises of Agriculture Street, The Times-Picayune, Apr. 22, 2015 (updated Jul. 18, 2019), https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_18f4b255-eeb1- 56af-8fe2-874edf331d3f.html.
Julie Dermansky, A Forgotten Community in New Orleans: Life on a Superfund Site, Desmog Blog, June 22, 2014, https://www.desmogblog.com/2014/06/22/forgotten-community-new- orleans-life-superfund-site.
Afternoon experiential learning: Movie watch in Miller Hall 204 Taking Back Our Town and Rise St. James discussion. Be sure your presentation topic is approved!
January 6th – Pollution: water and soil Lead paint; leaded gas; lead dust; environmental contamination; children’s health; animal welfare; wealth disparities.
6 Withgott Jay, & Laposata Mathew, Environment: the science behind the stories 6th ed. 2019. Water Cycle, Water Pollution, Hazardous Waste, recall info on Pb from previous day’s toxicology info. Pgs 118 - 119, 405 - 9, 367-9, 620. {link to canvas page pdf}
Fact Sheet: ‘Get the Lead Out!’, available on Canvas
Nidhi Subbaraman, Poison in the Pipes, BuzzFeed, Nov. 4, 2019, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nidhisubbaraman/new-orleans-lead-water-hidden- report.
Lindsey Konkel, Protecting a New Generation of Poisoned Kids After Katrina, National Geographic, Aug. 19, 2015, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/08/150819-new- orleans-katrina-lead-poisoning-hurricane-children-environment-health-pollution/#close.
Richard Campanella and Howard W. Mielke, Human Geography of New Orleans' High-lead Geochemical Setting, Envtl. Geochemistry and Health, 2008, https://richcampanella.com/wp- content/uploads/2020/02/article_Campanella-Mielkel-Environ-Geochem-Health-human- geography-of-lead-in-New-Orleans.pdf.
Wilburn P. Nobles III, Louisiana Gets 'F' Grade for Efforts to Remove Lead From School Drinking Water, Study Says, The Times-Picayune, Mar. 25, 2019 (updated Jan. 23, 2020), https://www.nola.com/news/education/article_d88fbdc4-3064-5aeb-8795- 85264d99fb0a.html.
Vann R. Newkirk II, The Story of a Decades-long Lead-poisoning Lawsuit in New Orleans Illustrates How the Toxin Destroys Black Families and Communities Alike, The Atlantic, May 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/the-poisoned- generation/527229/.
Laura Parker, The world’s plastic pollution problem explained, National Geographic June 7, 2019 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/plastic-pollution/
Tristan Baurick, ‘Nurdle Patrol’ Survey Finds Plastic Pellets on Almost Every Louisiana and Texas Beach, The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, Sep. 19, 2020, https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_a0c43db8-fa9a-11ea-862e- 874fec025dbe.html.
7 Julie Dermansky, Pollution Scientist Calls Plastic Pellet Spill in the Mississippi River ‘a Nurdle Apocalypse,’ Desmog Blog, Aug. 28, 2020, https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/08/28/new- orleans-louisiana-plastic-spill-mississippi-river-nurdle-apocalypse.
Tristan Baurick, Mississippi River Nurdle Spill Inspires Effort in Congress to Curb Plastic Pollution, The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, Sep. 29, 2020, https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_fabad4cc-0296-11eb-970d- 633e9ebb8db8.html.
Afternoon experiential learning: Nurdle clean-up 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. location TBD
January 7th - Food day 1 Emergency food distribution; food access; food deserts; community fridges; Covid food programs; food pantries; SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program), WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), and EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer).
World Hunger by the numbers https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/food/index.html
Kathleen J. Fitzgerald, Hungry at the Banquet: Food Insecurity in Louisiana 2018, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Dec. 13, 2018, http://www.loyno.edu/jsri/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/LA%20Food%20Insecurity%20Report.pdf.
New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee, Policy Matters: Assessing the Policy Gap and Opportunities in the New Orleans Food System, 2018, http://www.nolafoodpolicy.org/uploads/nolafpac-food-policy-assessment.pdf.
Joe DiStefano, Mapping a Path to an Equitable Recovery in Louisiana, Medium.com Urban Footprint, May 21, 2020, https://medium.com/urbanfootprint/mapping-a-path-to-an- equitable-recovery-in-louisiana-b7d4903d9ef9.
Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, et al., Distance to Store, Food Prices, and Obesity in Urban Food Deserts, 47 Am. J. Preventive Medicine 587 (2014), available on Canvas.
Shay O’Connor, New Orleans Area Food Bank Provides Thousands of Meals for Those in Need, WDSU News, Aug. 21, 2020, https://www.wdsu.com/article/local-food-bank-provides- thousands-of-meals-for-those-in-need/33663021.
8 Tamara Gane, Opinion: Being Hungry in America is Hard Work. Food Banks Need Your Help, NPR, June 30, 2019, https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/06/30/735881297/opinion- being-hungry-in-america-is-hard-work-food-banks-need-your-help.
Michael Greenberg, Gwendolyn Greenberg, and Lauren Mazza, Food Pantries, Poverty, and Social Justice, 100 Am. J. Pub. Health 2021 (2010), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951938/.
Iggy’s Cupboard, https://studentaffairs.loyno.edu/student-life-ministry/student-life/iggys- cupboard.
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Policy Basics: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), June 25, 2019, https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/policy-basics- the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap.
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Policy Basics: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, Apr. 26, 2017, https://www.cbpp.org/research/food- assistance/policy-basics-special-supplemental-nutrition-program-for-women-infants-and.
Afternoon experiential learning: Volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank
Week 2:
January 11th - Food day 2 Food equity; urban farming; alternative agriculture; addressing barriers to stability; gig economy; stable land access; challenging professional requirements
Nik Heynen, Hilda E. Kurtz, & Amy Trauger, Food Justice, Hunger and the City, 6 Geography Compass 304 (2012), available on Canvas.
Clement Loo, Toward a More Participative Definition of Food Justice, 27 J. Agricultural and Envtl. Ethics 787 (2014), available on Canvas.
Recirculating Farms Coalition, From Out of the Blue, Green Farming (2013), http://www.recirculatingfarms.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/RFCreport_FINAL-FINAL.pdf.
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Miguel Altieri, How Urban Agriculture Can Improve Food Security, Civil Eats, Feb. 14,2019, https://civileats.com/2019/02/14/how-urban-agriculture-can-improve-food-security/.
Anmar Frangoul, Food Security is a Global Problem. Here’s How Urban Farming Could Help, CNBC, June 12, 2020 (updated Sep. 16, 2020), https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/12/food- security-is-a-global-problem-heres-how-urban-farming-could-help.html.
Scott Thill, Ron Finley Celebrates Victory for His South Central Garden, Civil Eats, May 23, 2017, https://civileats.com/2017/05/23/ron-finley-celebrates-victory-for-his-south-central-garden/.
Ron Finley, A Guerilla Gardner in South Central LA, TED Talk, March 2013, https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerrilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.
Withgott Jay, & Laposata Mathew, Environment: the science behind the stories 6th ed. 2019. GMO vs Organic farming case study Marsh vs Baxter. {pdf link to canvas page} 235 - 236
Nadra Nittle, Could seaweed help save us from a climate catastrophe? 2020 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/climate-change-seaweed-methane- cows_n_5fdbcbe9c5b6094c0ff08393
Afternoon experiential learning: Volunteer at the Growing Local farm in Central City
January 12th - Land Indigenous land rights and displacement; Isle de Jean Charles; infrastructure inequality; contamination; Hurricane Katrina; Lower Ninth Ward.
Robynne Boyd, The People of the Isle de Jean Charles are Louisiana's First Climate Refugees--but They Won't Be the Last, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sept. 23. 2019, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/people-isle-jean-charles-are-louisianas-first-climate-refugees- they-wont-be-last.
Chantel Comardelle, Preserving Our Place: Isle de Jean Charles, Nonprofit Quarterly, Oct. 19, 2020 https://nonprofitquarterly.org/preserving-our-place-isle-de-jean-charles/.
10 Andrew J. Yawn, As Gulf Swallows Louisiana Island, Displaced Tribe Fears the Future, The Advertiser, Mar. 3, 2020, https://www.theadvertiser.com/in-depth/news/2020/02/27/isle-de- jean-charles-louisiana-climate-refugees-resettlement/2448973001/.
https://64parishes.org/keepers-of-the-mound also discussing the laws that federally repossess indigenous land if it's under any standing water for long enough, leading to the repossession of much of Isle De Jean Charles before the relocation - 17 min video
Elizabeth Shogren, Katrina Stirs Up Issue of Lead Levels in Soil, NPR, Mar. 1, 2006, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5240033.
Juliette Landphair, “The Forgotten People of New Orleans”: Community, Vulnerability, and the Lower Ninth Ward, 94 J. Am. Hist. 837 (2007), http://archive.oah.org/special- issues/katrina/Landphair.html.
M.A. Sheehan, Detours on the Road Home, Shelterforce, Oct. 1, 2015, https://shelterforce.org/2015/10/01/detours_on_the_road_home/.
Kaitlin Menza, Where Did Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation Go Wrong?, Architectural Digest, Jan. 18, 2019, https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/brad-pitt-make-it-right-foundation- new-orleans-katrina-lawsuit.
John Simerman, New Orleans Lower 9th Ward is Still Reeling From Hurricane Katrina’s Damage 15 Years Later, The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, Aug. 29, 2020, https://www.nola.com/news/katrina/article_a192c350-ea0e-11ea-a863-2bc584f57987.html.
Afternoon experiential learning: Panel with LA Tribal Chiefs and Lowlander Center
January 13th – Energy and oil.
EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions - foundational information https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data
Withgott Jay, & Laposata Mathew, Environment: the science behind the stories 6th ed. 2019. Keystone XL Pipline and the Oil Sands of Alberta 515-6
Phil Bucolo, personal experiences (no readings): Investigating the effects of petrochemical endeavors in the Alaskan Arctic
11 Bayou Bridge pipeline. Discussion about course, experiences, evals, what else should we cover in the future?
Tristan Baurick, Bayou Bridge Pipeline is Now Complete, After Years of Controversy, Mar. 27, 2019, The Times-Picayune/The Advocate, https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_6d2b011b-8887-5712-809d- 280410ebb64c.html.
Mary Annette Pember, Inside the Long, Hard Fight to Stop the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, Colorlines, Jan. 9, 2019, https://www.colorlines.com/articles/inside-long-hard-fight-stop-bayou-bridge-oil- pipeline.
Dean Wilson, Guest Column: Why We're Fighting the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, Jan. 31, 2018, The Times-Picayune/The Advocate, https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/article_55d38f5e-06b2-11e8-ad4e- ab48fb4aa3f7.html
Afternoon: students prepare for presentations next day!
January 14th – Presentations and critical reflections!
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