Environmental Justice Now

In this week’s episode, Vivian and Juan discuss the housing and economic crisis of Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities on the planet. The city grapples with strict construction laws, inequality, some of the worst air pollution anywhere, and the displacement of one of the area’s last rural villages. What can Hong Kong expect for their future, and how can we relate their struggles to Environmental Justice? To learn more about Hong Kong’s plans of Carbon neutrality, visit: Government Climate Plan To learn more about land usage and distribution, visit: Land Usage Distribution Info sheet To learn more about Choi Yuen Tsuen village, visit: South China Morning Post Village To learn more about the relationship between EJ and the village, visit: EJ Atlas To learn more about the trouble with wilderness, visit: WilliamCronon.net [http://williamCronon.net] To learn more about air pollution in Hong Kong, visit: Government Reports To learn more about the impact of growing infrastructure in Hong Kong, visit: Hong Kong FP To learn more about LegCo Building Protests, visit: South China Morning Post Protest To learn more about Hong Kong’s Housing Crisis, visit: Housing Crisis Report Music: Jazz Music (Pixabay) Effects: (Hong Kong Voice Clips) Hong Kong Voice Clip Hong Kong Voice Clip Hong Kong Voice Clip Hong Kong Voice Clip Hong Kong Voice Clip Hong Kong Voice Clip Hong Kong Voice Clip LegCo Storm Protesters in Hong Kong Storm LegCo Building Correction: This clip is from 2020, but captures the gist of a protest outside of the LegCo building in Hong Kong. Disregard the sentence prior to the introduction of it in the episode saying that it was the protest that occurred in November of 2009, as this clip is much more recent.

Show notes: https://bklyner.com/opinion-the-bqe-is-in-a-state-of-total-crisis-and-so-are-the-local-residents-who-literally-need-a-breath-of-fresh-air/ [https://bklyner.com/opinion-the-bqe-is-in-a-state-of-total-crisis-and-so-are-the-local-residents-who-literally-need-a-breath-of-fresh-air/] https://www.brooklynpaper.com/highway-to-health-problems-locals-will-breathe-in-toxic-air-for-years-if-city-sends-traffic-along-promenade-to-fix-bqe-experts-warn/ [https://www.brooklynpaper.com/highway-to-health-problems-locals-will-breathe-in-toxic-air-for-years-if-city-sends-traffic-along-promenade-to-fix-bqe-experts-warn/] https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-group-demands-action-on-issues-stemming-from-brooklyn-queens-expressway/ [https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-group-demands-action-on-issues-stemming-from-brooklyn-queens-expressway/] https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/health/highways-children-cognition-study/index.html#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20children,their%20peers%20living%20farther%20away [https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/health/highways-children-cognition-study/index.html#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20children,their%20peers%20living%20farther%20away]. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9126644/ [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9126644/] https://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/bqe-repair-redesign-environmental-justice-coalition-rally/#:~:text=Quincy%20Phillips%2C%20with%20the%20Red,%2C%E2%80%9D%20Garden%2DLucerna%20said [https://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/bqe-repair-redesign-environmental-justice-coalition-rally/#:~:text=Quincy%20Phillips%2C%20with%20the%20Red,%2C%E2%80%9D%20Garden%2DLucerna%20said].

This podcast covers the environmental justice issue of tourism and ecotourism. We talk about a case study that involves a dolphin tourist attraction in St. Lucia and the harms it would cause to St. Lucia locals. The protests against it eventually led to it not being put in, but the problems of slow violence, environmental privilege, and environmentalism of the poor still apply to this topic. We also talked about another case study of a major resort in St. Lucia and how tourism as a whole can become an environmental justice problem. We used a news source directly from St. Lucia that offered commentary on the island’s continued issue with a dolphin tourist site: St. Lucia StarLinks to an external site. [https://stluciastar.com/commentary-proposed-pigeon-island-dolphin-park-saint-lucia-shackles-fools-gold/]. This source, along with EJ AtlasLinks to an external site. [https://ejatlas.org/conflict/playuela-christopher-colombus-landing-resort], Seaside SustainabilityLinks to an external site. [https://www.seasidesustainability.org/post/rethinking-tourism-as-an-environmental-justice-issue], and several other sources, allowed us to understand the depth and nuance behind why this case was an environmental justice issue and how this thinking can be applied across other tourist attractions in major tourist locations.  Bibliography Author, No. “A Commentary on the Proposed Pigeon Island Dolphin Park: Is Saint Lucia in the Shackles of Fool’s Gold? - the STAR - St Lucia.” THE STAR - St Lucia, March 4, 2017. https://stluciastar.com/commentary-proposed-pigeon-island-dolphin-park-saint-lucia-shackles-fools-gold/. EJOLT. “Christopher Columbus Landing Resort in Playuela, Puerto Rico | EJAtlas.” Environmental Justice Atlas, n.d. https://ejatlas.org/conflict/playuela-christopher-colombus-landing-resort. Elevenlabs.io. “Text to Speech & AI Voice Generator - ElevenLabs.” Accessed May 20, 2025. https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech. Lincoln O’Barry. “St. Lucia Proposes New Captive Dolphin Facility | Dolphin Project.” Dolphin Project, March 9, 2017. https://www.dolphinproject.com/blog/st-lucia-proposes-new-captive-dolphin-facility/. Seaside Sustainability. “Rethinking Tourism as an Environmental Justice Issue.” Seaside, April 15, 2024. https://www.seasidesustainability.org/post/rethinking-tourism-as-an-environmental-justice-issue Travel Foundation. “- Travel Foundation,” 2022. https://www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk/climatejustice/. “Slow Digest: Violence.” Center for 21st Century Studies, February 9, 2025. https://uwm.edu/c21/slow-digest-violence/.

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the dark side of green energy? Are you interested in why certain demographics and their lands are targeted over others as sites for wind farms? Have you wondered about the direct impacts that wind turbines have on the environment and the communities in which they are installed? In this documentary-style podcast, two Deerfield Academy students delve into the impacts that wind turbines have on the Quilombola population in the Caetite region of Brazil.   If you’re interested in learning more about how rural Brazilian communities have been impacted by Brazil’s push to convert to green energy, we suggest you check out this site [https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/in-brazil-rural-communities-are-caught-in-the-eye-of-the-wind-farm-storm/]  Lastly, we’d like to thank Brian Hamilton for helping us in the production of this podcast.  We referenced these sources for the making of our podcast: EJ Atlas: Quilombola communities affected by wind power projects in Caetité region, Brazil [https://ejatlas.org/conflict/quilombola-communities-affected-by-wind-power-projects-in-caetite-region-brazil]  Fabiano Maisonnave, André Penner, and Lucas Dumphreys for AP News: Wind power expansion meets grassroots resistance in Brazil's Northeast | AP News [https://apnews.com/article/brazil-wind-power-renewable-energy-renewables-afrobrazilian-communities-5ea875150a4d813e29bae8fd6d7e13a7] Conectas: How quilombola communities view the projects [https://www.conectas.org/en/noticias/how-quilombola-communities-view-the-projects/] UNFPA: Counting every voice: Brazil's census includes quilombola communities for the first time [https://www.unfpa.org/news/counting-every-voice-brazils-census-includes-quilombola-communities-first-time] Alicia Arquetoux for France24: Quilombolas: The Afro Brazilians serving as guardians of the forests [https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20231130-quilombolas-the-afro-brazilians-serving-as-guardians-of-the-forests] Miguel Pinheiro for Mongabay: In Brazil’s Amazon, Quilombolas fight the erasure of their African heritage [https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/in-brazils-amazon-quilombolas-fight-the-erasure-of-their-african-heritage/] M.Sc. Alice Nataraja Garcia Santos: https://d-nb.info/1198121416/34 [https://d-nb.info/1198121416/34] Giovanna Carneiro, Arnaldo Sete, and Marco Zero for Mongabay: In Brazil, rural communities are caught in the eye of the wind farm storm [https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/in-brazil-rural-communities-are-caught-in-the-eye-of-the-wind-farm-storm/] Wikipedia: Caetité - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caetit%C3%A9#:~:text=Caetit%C3%A9%2C%20like%20much%20of%20the,to%20contact%20with%20radioactive%20material]  Audio materials used for this podcast:  Sääsch Bääsch:1 Hour of full Power Sounds inside a Windturbine (call it ASMR or what ever). USE HEADPHONES! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKaksQTXhZE] Soundridemusic - No Copyright Music:Cinematic Tension NoCopyright Background Music for Video / Tensions Run High by soundridemusic [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly9H63SLJJo&list=PLyuakwzSUr6AJyvaPsd3iiI-mxjCPnXHV] Equipe Disque:Disque Quilombola [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GStv-f_bcfU] AAINJAA PRODUCCIONES:PODEROSA AAINJALA | 150 DRUMMERS 😱 AAINJALA #1 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pq8vOVbvzs] Secession Studios:Emotional Background Music - Two Souls [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J33zSPl8eSU&list=PLeZQ1kdXmvpFHNGxknJKqz5-xn0jF9W64&index=6] AShamaLuevMusic:Sad and Emotional Cinematic Music | Drawing - by AShamaluevMusic [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKj0ZHKgle0&list=PLQQHEdexmxUHfkjMdrdEuWpw2w_OYfOjd&index=6] Jerrod Reque -Curious Instrumental Song for Creators [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP7HGv2so-8]

With the help of guest Jackson Violich, in this week’s episode we examine a carbon capture site in Kachung, Uganda, owned by the ironically named company “Green Resources”. We discuss how this process, though seemingly beneficial, is much more harmful than it is good. We dive into the ethics and rationale of carbon credits along with exploring how they can be detrimental to the communities their sites are located in. In doing this, we also consider different Environmental Justice trends and themes that arise from this project.  To see more details about the issue in Kachung, check out ejatlas.com [https://ejatlas.org/conflict/forest-plantation-by-green-resources-in-kachung-uganda] For another look at the same issue, explore upstreamjournal.com [https://upstreamjournal.org/false-forest-in-uganda/] To get an overview of carbon credits, check out climateimpact.com [https://www.climateimpact.com/services-projects/carbon-credits-explained-what-they-are-and-how-they-work/#:~:text=This%20is%20where%20carbon%20credits,climate%20change%2C%20yet%20least%20responsible] To read a report done by the Oakland Institute, check out The Darker Side of Green [https://cdm.unfccc.int/sunsetcms/storage/contents/stored-file-20190925140426817/Darker_Side_Green_2014.pdf] For more information on Kachung in video format, look atThe Forbidden Forest [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COoPVXlNbqQ] For a shocking detail on the efficacy of carbon credits, read this article by theguardian.com [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe] For another report on Kachung, Uganda, check out a Lund University case study [https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=8924441&fileOId=8924452] Finally, for a TedTalk on carbon credits, (and why they’re a scam), look at Jaye Connolly’sAre Carbon Credits Legit? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VTQ_RtK3y8]   To listen to our Jazzy Intro and Outro music, check out Jazz Background Music, by BackgroundMusicForVideos [https://pixabay.com/music/traditional-jazz-jazz-background-music-338663/]