Environmental and Community Justice Career Outlook

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. [The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] has this goal for all communities and persons across this nation.¹ The Environmental Justice Movement began in the 1960s as a response to environmental racisms. Triggered by an episode in which a rural, low-income community was named as a dumping site for 6,000 truckloads of toxic soil, the top of environmental (in)justice and environmental degradation caught the nation’s eye.² Because of this attention and the work of thousands, we now have the Clean Air Act (1970), The Wilderness Act (1964), the Endangered Species Act (1973) - just to name a few. While these regulations have greatly improved the goal of environmental justice, there is still much work ahead!

A recent episode of environmental (in)justice occurred in San Francisco Bay Area, California. Hunter’s Point, located adjacent to an infamous superfund site and home to over 20% of the city's black population. A whistleblower from one of the companies designated to ensure the land’s safety found that it was actually contaminated with radiation.³ A local environmental justice group called Green Action has been advocating for the transparency about the site’s condition for years.⁴ 

Environmental Justice addresses the human impacts of environmental issues and provides an ideal career sector for EcoLeaders with strong leadership and community advocacy backgrounds. Ecoleaders who would be a great fit for this relatively new field would be concerned with:

• How environmental problems disproportionately affect poor, marginalized communities around the world
• The needs of marginalized communities
• Advocating to empower these communities to fight for their environmental health and safety rights⁵

Positions in environmental justice seek a diverse skill set: communication, teambuilding, organization, knowledge of environmental policy and law, and an understanding of the complexity of stakeholders in governments, private corporations, and communities.

 

Sizing Environmental Justice Jobs:

Students and young professionals interested in working in the environmental and community justice field can seek jobs in government agencies (e.g., EPA, U.S. Department of Justice), colleges and universities, consulting firms, grant-making foundations, research institutes, corporations and a variety of domestic and international non-governmental organizations.
 

Listed below are a selection of job titles relevant to environmental and community justice careers:⁶

Salaries for Environmental Justice Jobs:

Legal occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree and at the highest level, a doctoral or professional degree. These include arbitrators and mediators who help resolve conflicts outside the court between disputing parties (e.g., a community and an industry). Base-level annual pay starts at approximately $60,000⁷.

Lawyers with a doctoral or professional degree on average make about $100,000⁸ per year. Administrative and secretarial positions with nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations at entry level require a high school diploma or equivalent, and base pay begins at approximately $30,000⁹ annually. These administrative support positions are also necessary in consulting firms, research institutions and community organizations.

Community and social service occupations, such as advocates, advisors, social and human service assistants, health educators, and community health educators often require at least a bachelor’s degree, and at the highest level, a master’s degree. Pay for these occupations ranges from $30,000 to $53,000¹⁰ annually.

 

Required Education and Certifications:

Environmental justice career paths emerge from various fields of study, such as environmental studies, sociology, public health or political science. Because environmental justice often deals with problems that affect poor and marginalized communities, students might also take courses in gender, development and inequality; empowering families and communities; and policy making.¹¹ EcoLeaders who have led or participated in projects within the community will have what it takes to work in the field of environmental justice.
 

Examples of Certification Programs in Community and Environmental Justice
Vermont Law School | Water Resource Law (certificate) 
The University of Kansas | Graduate Certificate in Environmental Justice
University of Michigan | Graduate Certificate Program in Environmental Justice
University of Colorado Boulder | Environmental Justice - Graduate Certificate

Examples of Academic Programs in Community and Environmental Justice
George Mason University | Environmental Sustainability Studies with a Concentration in Equity and Environmental Justice (B.A.)
Lewis & Clark Law School | Law Environmental Justice Advocates
Seattle University, Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability | Undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering with an Environmental Specialty, Environmental Science or Environmental Studies
Thomas Edison State College | Environmental Policy/Environmental Justice Program
University of California – Berkeley | Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Society & Environment
Vermont Law School | Master of Arts in Restorative Justice (MARJ)
Antioch University | Urban Environmental Education (M.A.Ed.)
University of Michigan | Environmental Justice (M.S.)
University of Montana | Environmental Studies with a focus in Environmental Justice (M.S.)
Clemson University | Environmental Sociology (M.S) University of Louisville | Urban Planning and Public Health (dual M.S.)
 

Environmental Justice Project Examples from the NWF Sustainability Database:

Environmental and Community Justice EcoTopic Page - Start here to find lots of resources for you to start and share your own Campus or Community Justice EcoProject in the EcoLeaders community! Or find inspiration from the following projects that other EcoLeaders have done:

• Arizona State University – Arizona: The Sustainable Cities Network (SCN) is a program designed to be a bridge between Arizona State University’s (ASU) research and technical capabilities in sustainability and the front-line challenges facing cities.
• A Tar Sand Pipeline along New England’s Rivers: What are we Risking?: Using research to engage communities and policy makers around the risks of a tar sands pipeline spill in New England's freshwaters. This project uses mapping and ecosystem services valuations to identify and assess the importance of rivers, lakes, and wetlands crossed by the Portland - Montreal Pipeline with the aim to generate discussions about why these waterways are important to many community values: health, culture, local business, nature, property value and more.
• Sarah Lawrence College – New York: Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) facilitated environmental discourse in disadvantaged communities that are systematically ignored by the mainstream environmental movement. The goal was to broaden civic engagement in the low-income neighborhoods of the Bronx and Poughkeepsie.
• Natural Leaders Legacy Camp: Participants in the Natural Leaders Legacy camp were able to learn grant writing skills and to learn about community development and management, all valuable in the environmental justice field.
• University of California - Berkeley, California: Students for the college are working with local communities to create a number of Environmental Justice Workshop Projects.
   

RESOURCES:

1. "What is Environmental Justice?," United States Environmental Protection Agency, May 18, 2015
2. “The Environmental Justice Movement.” National Resources Defense Council. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
3. “Former Hunters Point Worker Claims He Found High Radiation Level on Land Near New Construction.” NBC Bay Area. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
4. “Toward a Healthy and Just Future for All.” Green Action. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
5. “Environmental Justice: Academic Requirements, Professional Outlook.” Enviro Education. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
6. Ibid. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
7. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. "Environmental Justice: Academic Requirements, Professional Outlook,” Enviro Education, Retrieved August 6, 2017.

By: Laci Kettavong, NWF Fellow 2015 and Christina Lopez, NWF Fellow 2017