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In a comment on Tracy Yandle & Dudley Burton's analysis of historical hazardous waste landfill siting patterns in TX (1996 [see abstract 9718271]), it is argued that problems in the characterization of existing environmental justice research, combined with serious methodological errors, render the article meaningless as a study of contemporary environmental justice. Citing instances of false assertions underlying Yandle & Burton's study, the focus of the analysis is contended to be disastrously misleading. Objections are raised against the mathematical calculations used to determine adjusted metropolitan area median family incomes & the claim that their formulas produce statistical independence between the median family incomes of the hazardous waste tracts & those of the metropolitan areas containing these tracts. It is concluded that these conceptual & methodological errors invalidate Yandle & Burton's empirical & theoretical claims. 17 References. S. Barrera

To test theoretical explanations of racial differences in environmental political action, positing that blacks are less concerned than whites about environmental quality issues, data drawn from a 1980 US Dept of Agriculture field survey, involving face-to-face interviews with 559 blacks & 6,035 whites, were analyzed. Results revealed that degree of environmental concern among blacks vs whites was virtually identical. However, rates of participation in environmental activism were significantly lower for blacks, even after controlling for socioeconomic & other variables. Reasons why black concern has not translated into political action are examined. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 44 References. Adapted from the source document.

Extent of Black and White differences in concern for environmental quality; US. Impact on environmental participation.

A revised version of SA 32:5/S16543/ASA/1984/3734.

A considerable number of quantitative analyses have been conducted in the past several decades that demonstrate the existence of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of a wide variety of environmental hazards. The vast majority of these have been cross-sectional, snapshot studies employing data on hazardous facilities and population characteristics at only one point in time. Although some limited hypotheses can be tested with cross-sectional data, fully understanding how present-day disparities come about requires longitudinal analyses that examine the demographic characteristics of sites at the time of facility siting and track demographic changes after siting. Relatively few such studies exist and those that do exist have often led to confusing and contradictory findings. In this paper we review the theoretical arguments, methods, findings, and conclusions drawn from existing longitudinal environmental justice studies. Our goal is to make sense of this literature and to identify the direction future research should take in order to resolve confusion and arrive at a clearer understanding of the processes and contributory factors by which present-day racial and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of environmental hazards have come about. Such understandings also serve as an important step in identifying appropriate and effective societal responses to ameliorate environmental disparities.

National-level studies examining racial disparities around hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities have been very influential in defining the academic and political debates about the existence and importance of "environmental injustice." However, these studies tend to employ methods that fail to adequately control for proximity between environmentally hazardous sites and nearby residential populations. By using GIS and applying methods increasingly used in environmental inequality research that better control for proximity, we conduct a comprehensive reassessment of racial inequality in the distribution of the nation 's hazardous waste facilities. We compare the magnitude of racial disparities found with those of prior studies and test competing racial, economic, and sociopolitical explanations for why such disparities exist. We find that the magnitude of racial disparities around hazardous waste facilities is much greater than what previous national studies have reported. We also find these disparities persist even when controlling for economic and sociopolitical variables, suggesting that factors uniquely associated with race, such as racial targeting, housing discrimination, or other race-related factors are associated with the location of the nation's hazardous waste facilities. We further conclude that the more recent methods for controlling for proximity yield more consistent and definitive results than those used previously, and therefore argue for their wider utilization in environmental inequality research. Keywords: environmental justice, environmental inequality, environmental racism, racial inequality, hazardous waste, GIS.

Objective. This article examines long‐term trends in the environmental voting behavior in Congress and attempts to identify the factors that account for racial differences in voting patterns. Methods. Hypotheses about the various possible influences on environmental voting behavior are tested using longitudinal analyses and path analysis techniques. Results. Findings indicate African American members of Congress have been consistently more supportive of proenvironment legislation than either Republican or Democrat colleagues from 1981 to 1998. The data further suggest that much of these overall differences are explained by an especially large racial gap in proenvironmental voting among members from the South. Although such a gap among members from outside the South is eliminated by controlling for ideology and other variables, it remains substantial among Southern members. Conclusions. Based on the strong and consistent support for environmental legislation by African American members of Congress in the past, we expect significant racial differences in environmental voting to endure. Although results suggest that ideology plays a partial role in explaining such differences, future research will be needed to identify the reasons for the especially large racial gap in proenvironmental voting among members from the South. Given the growth in their numbers, their relatively safe seats, and their potential to chair important committees as they gain seniority, we expect African American legislators to play an increasingly important role in shaping and deciding the fate of national environmental policy in the future.

This article examines long-term trends in the environmental voting behavior in Congress & attempts to identify the factors that account for racial differences in voting patterns. Hypotheses about the various possible influences on environmental voting behavior are tested using longitudinal analyses & path analysis techniques. Findings indicate that African American members of Congress have been consistently more supportive of proenvironment legislation than either Republican or Democrat colleagues from 1981 to 1998. The data further suggest that many of these overall differences are explained by an especially large racial gap in proenvironmental voting among members from the South. Although such a gap among members from outside the South is eliminated by controlling for ideology & other variables, it remains substantial among Southern members. Based on the strong & consistent support for environmental legislation by African American members of Congress in the past, we expect significant racial differences in environmental voting to endure. Although results suggest that ideology plays a partial role in explaining such differences, future research will be needed to identify the reasons for the especially large racial gap in proenvironmental voting among members from the South. Given the growth in their numbers, their relatively safe seats, & their potential to chair important committees as they gain seniority, we expect African American legislators to play an increasingly important role in shaping & deciding the fate of national environmental policy in the future. 3 Tables, 5 Figures, 37 References. Adapted from the source document.

Three theoretical hyhpotheses of racial differences in environmental concern are posed: (1) hierarchy of needs, (2) cultural differences, & (3) environmental deprivation. The first two predict that African Americans are less concerned about the environment than are whites, but the third predicts that they are more concerned than are whites. The hypotheses were tested in a survey of 793 residents in the Detroit (MI) metropolitan area, which found little evidence to support the theoretical explanations of less environmental concern among African Americans. On the contrary, few differences were found, even over the nature preservation issues. The only significant differences were about local environmental problems, with African Americans expressing substantially greater concern than did whites. That racial differences in concern about such issues is a function of the disproportionate burden of environmental disamenities in African American neighborhoods is demonstrated by a multivariate analysis employing a wide range of local environmental quality indicators. 5 Tables, 1 Appendix, 46 References. Adapted from the source document.