Environmental Justice: Past, Present, and (Near) Future

media release: UW Center for Sustainability & the Global Environment Weston Roundtable lecture, Room 1163.

Speaker: Cliff Villa, professor, University of New Mexico School of Law

For good reasons, when activists and scholars speak of “environmental justice,” the first word that often comes to mind is race. But over time, concerns for environmental justice have expanded well beyond race, now to include all people who may be disproportionately harmed from environmental degradation and also to consider broader experiences of harm. This presentation will explore what environmental justice can or should mean today, against a backdrop of current political hostility, but full of hope for the future, drawing upon lessons from the past.

The Weston Roundtable is made possible by a generous donation from Roy F. Weston, a highly accomplished UW-Madison alumnus. Designed to promote a robust understanding of sustainability science, engineering, and policy, these interactive lectures are co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Office of Sustainability.