1. Green Criminology Based on research by M. Lynch & P. Stretsky and Routledge

2. Social Construction of Crime Like other crimes, green criminology is a social construction Influenced by: social locations Power relations in society Definitions of environmental crimes Media Political process

3. Corporate vs. Environmental Justice Two very different definitions on what it means “to be green.” 1970s was a time of political activism aimed at environmental protection

4. Corporate Definition 1990s was supposed to be the decade of the environment But things didn’t quite go as planned…..

5. The involvement of corporations actually sidetracked the movement Corporations were able to influence the social construction of green through the use of public relations and the mass media

6. This version was: mild less radical de-political zed vision

7. Stressed consumption rather than production issues A human could become “green” just by buying the correct products This was known as “greenwashing” This enabled corporations to defuse and redirect support for environment

8. Why did corporations do this? Radical environmental positions were a threat to corporations They wanted “business as usual.”

9. An example of “business as usual” Love Canal near Niagara Falls In the 1940s Love Canal was an abandoned navigation channel For years Hooker Chemical dumped thousands of drums filled with toxic chemical waste directly into the canal

10. In 1952 the canal was covered up A year later Hooker Company sold the land to the Niagara Falls Board of Education A school was built

11. In the 1970s Niagara Falls experienced a season of very heavy rain Chemicals began to seep up onto the school grounds and neighboring homes, including their basements

12. Federal and state officials investigated and found: 88 separate chemicals, some in concentrations 250 to 5,000 times higher than acceptable safety levels 11 of the 88 were known carcinogens

13. This case received massive media attention Though Hooker Company had a total disregard for the environment or future generations they had not broken any law Since then new laws have been passed…

14. Though many were then reversed by the Reagan administration

15. The “greenwashing” continues Chevron has commercials proclaiming they care about the environment Just look at all they have done for the El Segundo Blue Butterfly Of course, the butterfly would have been safe if its habitat was not on top of the U.S.’s largest underground oil spill

16. Environmental Justice (EJ) Three major types of EJ Ecofeminism Environmental racism Red-green movement

17. Ecofeminism Began in the 1970s Criticized capitalist profit-growth orientation and the patriarchy Connects the domination and exploitation of nature with the domination and exploitation of women

18. Argues that women are more concerned with survival than men It has been shown that women do put more money back into their own communities than their male counterparts

19. Ecofeminism can be achieved by Reorienting cultural values Returning to small-scale local economies And grass root democracy

20. Environmental Racism Simultaneously advocates EJ and the elimination of racial discrimination in environmental decisions Argues that toxic factories, pollution and waste sites affect communities of color more than Caucasians

21. Short term goals: race-linked theory and action Long term goals: Elimination of exposure to dangerous products and practices for all

22. Union Carbide Chemical plant in Bhopal, India December 1984 The world’s worst environmental accident occurred (Chernobyl was a close 1 st runner up)

23. The plant used highly toxic chemicals in its production process Water somehow got mixed into the toxic chemicals An explosion occurred

24. It is estimated that more than 6,000 humans died as a result of this “accident” 60,000 other humans were seriously affected by the toxic gases Over 20,000 of which who were permanently injured as a result of the exposure

25. It is argued that far fewer humans would have died if…… The plant had not been located so close to the shanty towns of the poor

26. The true extent of the damage will not be known for twenty or more years This could affect birth defects in upcoming generations Impact the natural environment and wildlife

27. Red-green movement Relates economic oppression to environmental degradation In a class society environmental problems are more likely to impact the working class and the poor Example?

28. Goal: Ecological Socialism A method of simultaneously eliminating environmentally destructive Unsustainable production practices Exploitative mode of production

29. All three are connected