Inequality and Environmental Goods and Bads Essay Example

Inequality and Environmental Goods and Bads Paper During the course Of this research I used website (USA Today) to look up my old school and found that the chemical most responsible for toxicity around my old school was sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is used in the production of fertilizer, which makes sense because the San Joaquin Valley is the states top agricultural producing region, sometimes called the nations salad bowl. Sulfuric acid can cause respiration problems, and irritation. Long-term exposure causes cancer. It was through this experience and others that became interested in environmental justice. In particular this research will explore who receives the majority of toxicity from illusion as well as who stands to benefit from polluting activities. A wealth of literature exists on environmental justice documenting the fact that people with low incomes, and communities with a large percentage of non-whites bear the brunt of the environmental bad. This becomes a real threat to life when you consider people who lack the means or access to healthcare, or to choose where to live. They have little buffer when confronted with a human made or natural disaster. The research have read suggests that it may have more to do with social and cultural explanations rather than strictly income. This research presents a few reasons why this is the case. People dont generally choose to live next to a toxic facility. It is more likely that the person cannot afford anywhere else, works there or the pollution came to them. Through exploring conflict theory, we learn they dont have the social and economic power to stop it. Evidence People of a lower economic status are exposed to a disproportionate amount of toxicity compared to people that make more money, people that have higher education, and whites. We will write a custom essay sample on Inequality and Environmental Goods and Bads specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Inequality and Environmental Goods and Bads specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Inequality and Environmental Goods and Bads specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In addition the exposure to African Americans and Hispanic Americans had statistically significant results showing that they re especially susceptible to toxic exposure, due to where they live, with both air pollution and proximity to solid waste and hazardous materials facilities. In 2002 Michael Ash and Robert Fetter analyzed the social and economic correlates of air pollution exposure in US cities using the 1 990 Census of Population and Housing. They constructed a unique dataset based on the Peas Risk Screening Environmental Indicators model (8). This model was able to account for atmospheric effects of dispersion (19). They found higher rates of pollution and toxic exposure consistently among lower income people and overall with people of color. They found something interesting about Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Hispanics tend to live in cleaner cities than whites, but within cities they tend to live in neighborhoods that are more polluted than the white residents in the city (18). Ash and Fetters results suggest that policy makers should seek redress for the disproportionate toxic exposure to black neighborhoods, and that environmental justice should remain a priority (20). Research by John Hip and Cynthia Lagoon quantifies the threat of environmental inequality. This research looks at levels of toxic sate in six populated counties in California between 1990 and 2000. The research explores the link be;en race and toxic environments. Hip and Lagoon found that in areas where there Were more Latino there was 84. 3% more toxicity than in average tracts, and with 15% more Asians there is 33. 7% more toxic waste. This research also found that in areas where some people have higher education (15. 5%) the area is exposed to 88. % less toxic than average. The researchers used census data to look for social disparities in proximity to toxic facilities. They found that those with less education are ore likely to live near these facilities and that this relationship solidified over time. Latino are particularly more likely to be exposed to toxicity and that exposure is likely to be more toxic. In 1997 Andrew Sass and Michael Musses conducted a review of literature that talks about how the movement against environmental racism began. This research reviews one of the first studies. The researchers include Benjamin Chivies groundbreaking research on toxic in African Americans communities. Sass and Musses also review one of the first ever studies in the field conducted in 1970 that looked for a relationship teen economic status (poverty) and greater exposure to polluted air. Overall this study found that the poorer the neighborhood the more polluted the air (1 01 However there were some caveats. For instance, different air pollutants impacted both African Americans and white manufacturing employees. This was the case in particular with sulfur oxide, a carcinogen. However this study also took into account emissions from automobiles. In larger cities such as Chicago all the rich, most of the poor Almost all the black Population resides in areas violating long-term particulate standards 101 This research suggests that people living in larger cities are exposed to more pollutants than people living in rural areas. These preliminary studies were not dominated by race discussion, but rather poverty and specifically urban poverty. The sass saw a number of studies on the topic of environmental inequality. The work from the sass focused on proximity to waste sites and pollutants emitted by operating plants. Race, occupation, education, and home value are the best predictor of the location of wastes sites. In 1994 AAA Gore was quoted saying, Race is the single most accurate redirector of the location of hazardous waste sites (104). Inequality and Conflict Theory The agent of harm is inequality, as much as pollution and polluting corporations. Research by James Boyce in 2007 addressed how inequality is actually harmful to the environment. He defines an environmental problem as harmful to humans. Ultimately, we all live in the environment, we derive the resources from nature to make our livelihoods. If something is a problem for the environment, then it is a problem for humans (4). When one group of people is exploited by another for economic benefit, inequality is allowed to occur. Through the lens of conflict theory, this allows those who have concentrated power on their side to achieve their goals better than their opposition, and they are able to build on their victory and gain advantage over Others. In this manner people in power Stay in power. Major polluters say that they dont deliberately target black neighborhoods, but Sharon says, Eventually those who win are able to create a system of inequality, a social structure where they are at the top, and a culture and set of intuitions works to protect them (163). This translates to environmental racism and we see it s an unequal share of pollution exposure. Environmental racism is defined as the deliberate targeting of people of color communities for toxic waste facilities and the official sanctioning of life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in people of color communities (Sass and Musses 114). Bad jobs are a major cause of inequality (Sharon 159). Low paying jobs reduce economic power and exist to allow others to make profit. Low paying jobs rob those who hold them of deciding where to live, Sharon says, it traps them in a life of bare survival (158). Bad jobs also expose people to more toxic absences than do white collar jobs. Environmental externalities are the consequences of an action where the people who bear the negative aspects of the action have no voice in the decision process. Some people benefit economically from pollution, but they are rarely those residents that have to live with the environmental fallout. Therefore, more environmental harm is likely to occur in regions where there is high inequality and most people have less information and social, democratic, and economic power. Boyce says, When the beneficiaries from environmentally harmful activities are more rueful than those who bear the costs, greater inequality can be expected to result in more environmental harm. On the other hand, when those who bear the costs are more powerful than the beneficiaries, we might expect the opposite: greater inequality yields less environmental harm (9). Conflict theory partially explains the reasons inequality exists. Conflict theory was derived from Karl Marx who saw that society is comprised of a number of different groups that compete for resources, whether they be economic resources like money or property, or social such as stature, or political power. Social order then, is attained by domination. The most powerful in terms of economic and social power, dominate those with less, and social consensus only comes in opposition of another weaker group. Historically, the conflicts and opposition in society have been over race, gender, and class. Inequality exists because the group in power uses its economic and social resources to its advantage in protecting its power. This theory is seen in both groups and individuals (Grossman). People who live in polluted communities are the proletariat described in Mars conflict theory. Proletariat are the working lass, that do not own land and do not have ownership of the means of production, so instead, they sell their labor. The bourgeoisie are the class that owns land and the means of production. They try to keep wages as low as possible to increase profits. The people in power do not live in these communities because they can afford not to, and they can afford to move. They have more economical and social power, and they would rather shift toxic exposure to poor communities than in their back yard. Determining the reason for inequality is important because when inequality exits crime, poverty, exploitation, stress, and lack of self-worth are symptoms. Social inequality is not the only cause of misery in the world, but it goes a long way in explaining much of it (Sharon 164). Because these symptoms of inequality increase human misery, they should be minimized. Sharon says that inequality cannot be eradicated, but misery can be limited by working together in a just and democratic society. When alienation between different races in society increases due to inequality the institution of racism and social construction of landscape gives polluters providence to site polluting facilities in poor and black neighborhoods. A paper by Knelt Edwards, an environmental sociology professor at University of Alaska Anchorage, explores the ways people in power euthanize the residents of an area in order to justify harm. This research explores the social construction of landscape at the time of nuclear testing in the mid 20th century in Point Hope, Alaska. The area was described as remote, nonwhite, and sparsely populated. This allowed political powers to justify the testing at the same time dehumidifying the inhabitants of the area. It is easier for a polluter to site hazardous facilities in poor neighborhoods because it is cheaper. There isnt the same amount of community backlash and resistance and the poor communities see corporate development as a benefit, that the new construction will bring jobs to the community. While there are a few salary positions that become available, often times the jobs are the low paying, dangerous, and unstable jobs mentioned earlier. This keeps the proletariat stuck in a cycle Of exploitation. According to Marxism, the system Of capitalism itself is based on exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. Conclusion During the course of this research found that the corporation responsible or the most hazardous pollution that threatened my old elementary school is from a facility called Met Poss. Generation (LISA Today). I was encouraged to see on their website that in recent years theyve switched over to a greener form of energy. They are now operating on 100% woody biomass fuel to generate electricity rather than gasoline and coal generation (McPherson Energy Corporation), a move that has reduced the impact on the environment and the surrounding community. This move has taken a waste product and turned it into an economic good, while decreasing the environmental bad. National and community engagement is key to increasing the volume of the voices in this fight, but so is a change in the polluting practices of corporations. Carbon cap and trade, a move towards greener ways of producing energy, employing new technologies that reduce pollution and increasing the utilization of waste products will ease the conscience and raise profits of the bourgeoisie and increase the wages of the proletariat. Building and retrofitting neighborhoods So they are more energy efficient, Waste less, and are more centralized will keep the wages in the hands of community residents and out of the pockets of utility companies.

Tennessee Vital Records - Births, Deaths Marriages

Tennessee Vital Records - Births, Deaths Marriages Learn how and where to obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates and records in Tennessee, including the dates for which Tennessee vital records are available, where they are located, and links to online Tennessee state vital records databases. Tennessee Vital Records1st Floor, Central Services Building421 5th Avenue, NorthNashville, TN 37243Phone: 615-741-1763 What You Need to Know:Check or money order should be made payable to Tennessee Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. Call or visit the Web site to verify current fees. A photocopy of a valid government issued form of identification which includes the requestor’s signature, usually a driver’s license, must accompany requests for birth and death records. Web site: Tennessee Office of Vital Records   Tennessee Birth Records: Dates: From 1908 Cost of copy: $15.00 long form; $8.00 short form Comments: Tennessee birth records less than 100-years-old are only available to the individual named on the certificate, or their spouse, parent, legal guardian or child. However, verification of information from the records (a transcription of all available information)  can be provided to any requester with a Verification of Birth Facts request. Birth records are available from the State Office beginning with January 1914 births. Records of births from 1908-1912 were kept by the County Clerk in the county where the birth occurred and are also available at the Tennessee State Archives. Records of some births that occurred in the major cities (Nashville since June 1881, Knoxville since July 1881 and Chattanooga since January 1882) are also available. Although the short form is cheaper, the long form (a photocopy of the original record) is much better for genealogical purposes!Application for Tennessee Birth Certificate * Memphis birth records from April 1874 - December 1887 and November 1898 - January 1, 1914 are available from the Memphis Shelby County Health Department. Online:Index to Davidson County Birth Records, 1908–1912Index to Nashville Birth Records, 1881–1913Index to Shelby County Birth Records, 1874–1906   Tennessee Death Records: Dates: From 1908 Cost of copy: $7.00 Comments: Tennessee death records less than 50-years-old are only available to the individual named on the certificate, or their spouse, parent, legal guardian or child. However, verification of information from the records can be provided to any requester with a Verification of Death Facts request. This is  transcription of all available information from the death record, excluding cause of death.   The State office has had death records for the entire State since January 1914, for Nashville since July 1874, for Knoxville since July 1887 and for Chattanooga since March 6, 1872. Death records are available from the State Vital Records Office for the past 50 years. Older death records can be requested through the Tennessee State Archives. Although the short form is cheaper, the long form (a photocopy of the original record) is much better for genealogical purposes!Application for Tennessee Death Certificate Online:Index to Tennessee Death Records: 1908-1912Statewide Index to Tennessee Death Records, 1914–1933)Index to Davidson County Death Records, 1900–1913Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955 (index images)   Tennessee Marriage Records: Dates: From 1861* Cost of copy: $15.00 (state) Comments: Tennessee marriage records less than 50-years-old are only available to the individuals named on the certificate, or their spouse, parent, legal guardian or child. However, verification of information from the records (a transcription of all available information) can be provided to any requester with a Verification of Marriage Facts request. The State office has marriage records for the entire State for the past 50 years. Older records are held by the Tennessee State Archives.Application for Tennessee Marriage Certificate * For Memphis birth records from April 1874 - December 1887 and November 1898 - January 1, 1914, and for Memphis death records from May 1848 to January 1, 1914, write to Memphis-Shelby County Health Department, Division of Vital Records, Memphis, TN 38105. A list of Tennessee marriages before 1861 has been published in six volumes. Copies of entries for a surname can be provided upon request for a small fee from the Tennessee State Archives. Online:Tennessee County Marriages, 1790-1950 (index images)Nashville and Davidson County Marriage Records 1788–1839 (index)Nashville Marriage Records 1864–1905  (index)Nashville and Davidson County Marriage Records 1905–1916  (index)   Tennessee Divorce Records: Dates: From July 1905 Cost of copy: $15.00 Comments: Vital Records Office keeps divorce records for 50 years. Older records are maintained by the Tennessee State Archives. Divorces can also be obtained from the Clerk of Court in the county where the divorce was granted. If youre ineligible to receive a certified copy of the divorce, you can still apply for Verification of Divorce Facts for a transcription of information from the divorce record.Application for Tennessee Divorce or Annulment Certificate * Early divorce requests in Tennessee had to be approved by the Tennessee General Assembly. Search the Index to Names in the Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850 to see if there is a listing for a particular individual. If found, the Tennessee State Archives can provide copies for a fee. More US Vital Records - Choose a State

Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Globalisation - Essay Example This would require that the nations concerned should open their markets for international trade, international investment, international finance and labour movements – a process which would result in interdependency and lead to integration of the economies of the concerned countries with attendant benefits to all. From an individual country or a business point of view, globalisation is also a matter of strategy in the overall process described above. This strategy is best defined as the attempt to reap the highest benefits from out of the natural endowments of a country / business – be it in terms of raw materials, technology, skilled manpower etc. and reach the world markets with greater competitiveness. Viewed from this perspective, the term globalisation defines both a threat and an opportunity; a threat if a dominant economy or a business house commands the world markets, and an opportunity when even a small player can look at the entire world as his potential market to exploit. the term. Deepak Nayyar puts it best in his words: â€Å"It is, in part, an integration of markets (for goods, services, technology, financial assets and even money) on the demand side, and, in part, an integration of production (horizontal and vertical) on the supply side (Nayyar, 2006). International trade had been taking place for nearly a thousand years both on the land and sea routes. The items of exchange were mainly spices, silks and precious stones; in other words, only a limited number of highly valued exotic items. This trade was being conducted by individual traders. international trade - exchanging finished manufactured goods for raw materials, although Great Britain as the supreme imperial power, controlled the raw materials prices from its colonies as well as the prices of finished goods sold in its colonies. Further, to supplement its work force, it deployed substantial number of indentured labourers from the Indian subcontinent to places like the South