Encore - Disparate Environmental Impacts: Causes and Solutions to Environmental Injustice

Recorded at the East Brunswick Public Library on 03/11/2021. New Jersey is known as the Garden State, but few understand that the  name was meant to highlight the fact the other states such as New York  and Pennsylvania traditionally used New Jersey as their garden—a place  to take beneficial resources for their own use and then bury their  refuse, back when it was customary to bury your garbage in your  backyard.  But why? Why do some locations and some populations end up  with most of the environmental problems and others reap most of the  benefits? And what can we do about it? From economics to discrimination,  this talk focuses on the various causes of environmental inequality and  its effects, and on ways that these inequalities can be prevented. Maritza Jauregui, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of  Sustainability at Stockton University in Galloway, NJ. Growing up in  area of NJ where chromium blooms in recreational fields were common and  where the dumping of construction debris and other unwanted materials  was expected, she became extremely interested in why it was that some NJ  towns always seemed to get the unwanted facilities while others seemed  untouched. Dr. Jauregui’s research focuses on the social, economic and  historical factors that produce environmental hazards in vulnerable  communities and on sustainable solutions to promote resilience.