Chapter 8 of Protecting New Jersey’s Environment, called Environmental Justice was a little more uplifting then the past chapters. Of course, there are negative things that happened but something about this chapter seemed a little more up lifting. The chapter started off talking about the Cherokee Investment Partners and the Camden Redevelopment Authority. It talked about how these two groups worked together to redevelop the area in Camden. It talked about their hope to create middle income housing, a golf course, and a marina (Belton 135). I think that it was great that these two groups were coming together to try to do this. I also think that it was important to raise the point about how people were going to be displaced during this process because it drives home the point that there is a down side to almost all good things that happen. Just like how in chapter 7 we learned that many of the chemical byproducts that have caused contamination were the results of things that were doing good. I think that this is a really important thing to keep in mind, with the good comes a little bad.
It wasn’t as nice to hear that the project that the two groups were working on had become tangled in legal complications and came to an end but it was optimistic that the people of Cramer Hill still got what they wanted in the end thanks to other funding. I think that this story, as well as the other examples that were named in the chapter show how important it is to speak up when it comes to environmental justice.
Personally, when I think of environmental justice my mind automatically goes to the Lorax, maybe that’s just my inner child or inner teacher- who ever it is- I think that it’s a good representation of environmental justice. Just like in the chapter of the book, the Lorax is there to stand for the environment and fight for what the people think is right. In the case of Dr. Seuss the Lorax is fighting for the tress so that is a little different then fighting for fighting for the environmental movement overall but I think it gives the information a little bit of perspective for me personally.
In either case when it comes to environmental justice the message is clear in that it is up to people to fight and use their voice to defend the environment. On page 140 we can see that the NJDEP helped to give community activist a voice by listening to their concerns and helping them make a plan for the problems that they were presenting. This brings me back to the point that having a voice and being heard plays a huge role in environmental justice. Just like the Lorax, we speak for the trees and for the environment as a whole. It is up to us to use out voices to make a difference.