Environmental & Climate Justice
NOT ALL COmMunities are EQUAL
Why it Matters
In Florida, the U.S., and many other countries, low-income, Black, Indigenous, Latino/a, Asian and other peoples have long been politically or economically aggregated into areas subject to higher levels of: pollution (e.g., near powerplants, urban factories, landfills), flooding (lower elevation, historically flood-prone communities), and other factors that degrade public health, education, and economic mobility generation after generation (Bullard et al. 2014; Campbell et al. 2016; Fusi et al. 2021; Congressional Research Service 2024).
For over 30 years, formal research on and actions to remedy environmental justice (EJ) issues have been widespread, most commonly based on the EPA definition: “The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, culture, national origin, income, and educational levels with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of protective environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” Impacts from changes in climate have also been increasingly documented among lower-income populations (e.g., Yale Prog. On Climate Change Communication, 2025) and often involve the same drivers that contribute to EJ impacts. The Indian River Lagoon and nearby coastal regions have many communities that are subject to both Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) issues, including flooding and extreme heat.
Source: M. Moore, Howard Univ. 2022
Source: West Palm Beach Fishing Club
Climate change and associated environmental impacts affect the IRL’s highly diverse animal and plant populations in negative manners that also have economic impacts (e.g., web page summaries and literature throughout this site). Current and future social, economic, and environmental research is needed to generate essential data to improve strategic planning and adaptation strategies for coastal human communities as well as the fauna and flora living in, or from, the lagoon. Many agencies have stopped essentially all EJ, CJ, and associated research and policy efforts as of early 2025 (e.g., EOS.org. 2025; EnvironmentalHealthNews, 2025).
In addition to resources available on our What We Can Do page, there are guides targeted for infrastructure programs doing stormwater management across the U.S, and other countries (e.g., Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange and Greenprint Partners, 2022). The reality remains, not all communities are equal in their vulnerability to repeated negative impacts involving environmental and climate justice and associated socio-economic issues.
If interested in volunteering or otherwise taking action on issues above, the What We Can Do page can assist.