Drew Today

MADISON, NJ—Why do the world’s most marginalized people live in environmentally compromised regions?  Who is to blame for this eco-inequality?  Can we fairly divide ecological benefits and burdens among the global population?  These questions, and others like them, form the basis of Dr. Robert D. Bullard’s environmental justice movement, which advocates for worldwide equality in ecological living conditions.  On February 24 at Drew University, Bullard will speak about his movement and current environmental justice issues around the globe.  

Bullard, who is the Ware Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Clark Atlanta University, began his environmental advocacy while living and working in Houston in the 1970s.  It was there that he noticed an inordinate number of garbage dumps cropping up in African-American neighborhoods.  The research that resulted from this realization brought him face-to-face with a global tradition of environmental racism that creates poor conditions in minority neighborhoods.  Bullard’s 1990 book, “Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality,” which is based on his research in Houston, is widely considered to be the first to fully flesh out the concept of environmental justice.

Since publishing “Dumping in Dixie,” Bullard has written several additional books on environmental topics.  They include: “Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World,” “Highway Robbery: Transportation Racism and New Routes to Equity,” “The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution,” “Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity,” and “The Black Metropolis in the Twenty-First Century: Race, Power, and the Politics of Place.”

At Clark Atlanta, in addition to his faculty position, Bullard is the director of the school’s Environmental Justice Resource Center.  According to its Web site, the center is a research and policy clearinghouse that focuses on race and the environment, suburban sprawl and smart growth, and global climate change, among several other issues.   

Before arriving at Clark Atlanta, Bullard was one of the planners of the First and Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, and previously served on President Clinton’s Transition Team in the Natural Resources and Environment Cluster.  He also chaired the Health and Research Subcommittee of the U.S. EPA National Environment Justice Advisory Council.

Bullard will speak at Drew University in the Simon Forum and Athletic Center at 12:00 p.m. on February 24.  Admission is free.  For more information, please contact Dr. Wendy Kolmar, associate dean for curriculum and faculty development, at 973/408-3944 or e-mail wkolmar@drew.edu.