Environmental Justice means many things to many people.

The Environmental Justice movement defines the environment as where we live, work, study, play and pray.

• Low-income, rural, people of color, Native American, working class and ethnic communities are disproportionately victimized by polluting industries. Many call this environmental racism.
• Many low-income communities experience economic extortion
• by accepting the presence of polluting industries in exchange for jobs and income.
• Workers are subject to economic extortion by accepting health and safety compromises in exchange for jobs and income.
• Alliances between labor and the Environment Justice movement are natural, desirable, and crucial because workers and community residents are affected by the same toxic releases
  –A Just Transition for Jobs and the Environment

The Principles of Environmental Justice, adopted at the First People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, include:

• the right to be free from ecological destruction; public policy…based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias
• the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources
• universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food
• the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.

The full text of the Principles from the Proceedings to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held on October 24-27, 1991 can be read here.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency definition of 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…No group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or a socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local and tribal programs and policies.”

Read the more EPA's work on Environmental Justice