Cuestiones Ambientales y Sociales. Jueves 16 Mayo

1.
List two reasons that make the environment an appropriate topic for
sociologists to study.
2. Describe two of the environmental problems facing the world today.
3. Describe what is meant by the assertion that environmental problems are
human problems.
4. Explain the concepts of environmental inequality and environmental racism.
5. Understand the various environmental problems that exist today.
At first glance, the environment does not seem to be a sociological topic. The natural and
physical environment is something that geologists, meteorologists, oceanographers, and
other scientists should be studying, not sociologists. Yet we have just discussed how the
environment is affected by population growth, and that certainly sounds like a sociological
discussion. In fact, the environment is very much a sociological topic for several reasons.
First, our worst environmental problems are the result of human activity, and this activity,
like many human behaviors, is a proper topic for sociological study.
Second, environmental problems have a significant impact on people, as do the many

other social problems that sociologists study. We see the clearest evidence of this impact
when a major hurricane, an earthquake, or another natural disaster strikes. In January
2010, for example, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti and killed more than 250,000
people, or about 2.5 percent of that nation’s population. The effects of these natural
disasters on the economy and society of Haiti will certainly also be felt for many years to
come.
Slower changes in the environment can also have a large social impact. As noted earlier,
industrialization and population growth have increased the pollution of our air, water, and
ground. Climate change, a larger environmental problem, has also been relatively slow in
arriving but threatens the whole planet in ways that climate change researchers have
documented and will no doubt be examining for the rest of our lifetimes and beyond.
A third reason the environment is a sociological topic is a bit more complex: Solutions to
our environmental problems require changes in economic and environmental policies, and
the potential implementation and impact of these changes depends heavily on social and
political factors. In the United States, for example, the two major political parties,
corporate lobbyists, and environmental organizations regularly battle over attempts to
strengthen environmental regulations.
A fourth reason is that many environmental problems reflect and illustrate social
inequality based on social class and on race and ethnicity: As with many problems in our
society, the poor and people of color often fare worse when it comes to the environment.
Fifth, efforts to improve the environment, often called the environmental movement,
constitute a social movement and, as such, are again worthy of sociological study.
Sociologists and other social scientists have conducted many studies of why people join
the environmental movement and of the impact of this movement.
Environmental sociology assumes “that humans are part of the environment and that the
environment and society can only be fully understood in relation to each other” (McCarthy
& King, 2009, p. 1). Because humans are responsible for the world’s environmental
problems, humans have both the ability and the responsibility to address these problems.
As sociologists Leslie King and Deborah McCarthy (2009, p. ix) assert, “We both strongly
believe that humans have come to a turning point in terms of our destruction of ecological
resources and endangerment of human health. A daily look at the major newspapers
points, without fail, to worsening environmental problems…Humans created these
problems and we have the power to resolve them. Naturally, the longer we wait, the more
devastating the problems will become; and the more we ignore the sociological
dimensions of environmental decline the more our proposed solutions will fail.”
Environmental sociologists emphasize two important dimensions of the relationship

between society and the environment: (a) the impact of human activity and decision
making and (b) the existence and consequences of environmental inequality and
environmental racism. We now turn to these two dimensions.
Human Activity and Decision Making
Perhaps more than anything else, environmental sociologists emphasize

that environmental problems are the result of human decisions and activities that harm
the environment. Masses of individuals acting independently of each other make decisions
and engage in activities that harm the environment, as when we leave lights on, keep our
homes too warm in the winter or too cool in the summer, and drive motor vehicles that
get low gas mileage. Corporations, government agencies, and other organizations also
make decisions and engage in practices that greatly harm the environment. Sometimes
individuals and organizations know full well that their activities are harming the
environment, and sometimes they just act carelessly without much thought about the
possible environmental harm of their actions. Still, the environment is harmed whether or
not individuals, corporations, and governments intend to harm it.
A preventable accident was the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster, in which the tanker
hit ground off the coast of Alaska and released 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William
Sound. Among other consequences, the spill killed hundreds of thousands of birds and
marine animals and almost destroyed the local fishing and seafood industries. The
immediate cause of the accident was that the ship’s captain was an alcoholic and left the
bridge in the hands of an unlicensed third mate after drinking five double vodkas in the
hours before the crash occurred. Exxon officials knew of his alcoholism but let him
command the ship anyway. Also, if the ship had had a double hull (one hull inside the
other), it might not have cracked on impact or at least would have released less oil, but
Exxon and the rest of the oil industry had successfully lobbied Congress not to require
stronger hulls.
Hurricane Katrina was a more recent environmental disaster in which human decision
making resulted in a great deal of preventable damage. After Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and
especially New Orleans in August 2005, the resulting wind and flooding killed more than
1,800 people and left more than 700,000 homeless. McCarthy and King (2009, p. 4)
attribute much of this damage to human decision making: “While hurricanes are typically
considered ‘natural disasters,’ Katrina’s extreme consequences must be considered the
result of social and political failures.” Long before Katrina hit, it was well known that a
major flood could easily breach New Orleans levees and have a devastating impact.
Despite this knowledge, US, state, and local officials did nothing over the years to
strengthen or rebuild the levees. In addition, coastal land that would have protected New
Orleans had been lost over time to commercial and residential development. In short, the
flooding after Katrina was a human disaster, not a natural disaster.
Environmental Inequality and Environmental Racism
A second emphasis of environmental sociology is environmental inequality and the related

concept of environmental racism. Environmental inequality (also called environmental
injustice) refers to the fact that low-income people and people of color are
disproportionately likely to experience various environmental problems,
while environmental racism refers just to the greater likelihood of people of color to
experience these problems (Walker, 2012). The term environmental justice refers to
scholarship on environmental inequality and racism and to public policy efforts and
activism aimed at reducing these forms of inequality and racism.

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1.

Second, environmental problems have a significant impact on people, as do the many

Environmental sociologists emphasize two important dimensions of the relationship

Human Activity and Decision Making

Perhaps more than anything else, environmental sociologists emphasize

Environmental Inequality and Environmental Racism

A second emphasis of environmental sociology is environmental inequality and the related

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