Environmental Justice deals with the distributional impact of pollution damages. Do
communities that host toxic facilities, for example, have a higher percentage of
minorities and the poor relative to other communities? The empirical evidence on
this issue is mixed. Some studies show that toxic facilities are likely to locate in
minority or less affluent communities, while other studies find no statistical difference
between the racial composition of communities that house hazardous waste treatment
facilities and those that do not.

Conference Goals

• To explore whether racial minorities and the poor are being environmentally
  victimized
  
• To evaluate public policies that promote environmental fairness
  
  Sessions topics include the history and status of the environmental justice movement, the power of environmental activism, health impacts of various pollutants, the incidence of emission damages, the meaning of a healthy and livable community, and fairness as an explicit environmental policy objective.
  
  A group of distinguished speakers that include academicians, policy-makers, and
  healthcare specialists have agreed to participate. Bunyan Bryant, keynote speaker,
  is a nationally recognized scholar in the field of environmental justice. The mix of
  speakers and topics should appeal to a wide audience of college students and
  faculty, concerned citizens, environmental and social activists, NGO representatives,
  and government officials. The expert presentations should provide a variety of
  interesting perspectives on this important topic and elicit productive dialog on how
  best to achieve environmental equity for all communities. Their presentations will be
  published in the conference proceedings.

For more information contact us at 860-439-5417 or ccbes@conncoll.edu