Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117599

Craig M. Klugman, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Nevada Reno, MS 274, Reno, NV 89557-0036, 775-784-4041x229, cmk@unr.edu and Laura Hartman, BA, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, PO Box 400126, Charlottesville, VA 22904.

Environmental Justice first entered the ethical lexicon in the 1980s after the North Carolina governor declared plans to build a medical waste incinerator in a traditionally low socioeconomic, minority area. The Environmental protection Agency developed a definition of the term that focuses on equity and inclusiveness in forming regulations and regulating policies in the environment. Such a definition is limited and too closely resembles concepts in the conversations surrounding the notion of public health ethics. The authors propose a broadened notion of environmental justice that looks at natural habitats in addition to human environments. This deeper understanding would see nature as having inherent rather than instrumental value. This paper will examine views of justice as they relate to human impact on the environment and how various views of justice effect both human and natural environmental health. These concepts will be applied to a fictional scenario of a community deciding where to place a medical waste treatment plant.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the nature of justice in public health
• Understand the definition of environmental justice
• Evaluate proposals for their just equity

Keywords: Ethics, Environmental Justice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation