Corporate America’s commitment to environmental justice has been tepid to non-existent.
Several factors explain this absence of commitment, including a fear of lawsuits from high community pollution levels, opposition to revising operating permits by regulatory agencies, potential citizen protests to plant site expansions, and corporations’ broader reluctance to discuss their economic and political power in communities populated by people of color and/or lower incomes.
This reluctance and, at times, opposition to engage in the environmental justice conversation is part of a broader failure to recognize a more historic legacy that stems from the origins of the nation. In fact, the problem of environmental justice is but one manifestation of racial and social injustice that began with the introduction of slavery and has continued in post-slavery times, including our own.
That’s a lot of history to digest for any company that seeks to develop a clearer and more credible declaration of its views on environmental justice. However, two factors are pushing corporations’ deliberations forward. First, employees, and the critical talent they represent for business success, are becoming even more influential in shaping senior management expectations on social issues, including environmental justice. Second, expanded transparency will continue to disrupt those companies that resist aligning their priorities and values on environmental justice and other issues with the needs of a changing society that bequeaths their license to operate. Read more…