The Fourth World War and Environmental Racism occurs

1.)  How do you see the role of Corporate Capitalism in the siting of waste plants locally,

nationally and globally?

Corporate Capitalism plays an important role in the sitting of waste plants locally, nationally and

globally because its main and only goal is to maximize profit above all else and that includes

people, communities or society as a whole. This type of vision promotes exploitation of 

resources and inequalities where those with little or no power often suffer the biggest burden. As

long as there is corporate capitalism the benefits and costs of the economy will be unfairly

distributed one way or the other.

2.)  Is environmental racism only something occurring in the US?

No. Environmental racism it’s a global problem with almost identical characteristics around

the world. Anywhere in the world where black, minority, poor or indigenous people live you

will find corporations devastating eco-systems and destroying their culture and livelihood in

order to seek the greatest profit, the least government and environmental regulations andthe best tax advantages.

3.) What do you suppose would be a good strategy to address the global environmentalracism?

In my opinion, a good strategy to address the global environmental racism is to start a global

networking to extend social awareness, ideas of moral, injustice to minorities, environmental

degradation, etc. The idea is not to limit our voices to be heard only in our communities or

our states but to be heard internationally and create a sense of mutual solidarity across the

borders and utilize the market and the media as much as possible to highlight environmental

racism globally.

3.)  How is the struggle for self-determination related to the struggle for environmental justice?

Both struggles are related in the sense of people fighting for their rights to make their own

choices and decisions that best benefit them. They are continuous struggles. We can see an

example of these struggles in chapter four of From the Ground Up where residents of Buttonwillow mainly Latino farm-workers started organizing to try to stop the expansion of a

nearby toxic waste dump. First of all, the residents of Buttonwillow did not speak fluent

English, if at all, so they asked for Spanish translation and even though they were the

majority and white people the minority such translation was denied by the government

officials. How were they supposed to be informed and understand what’s best for their

interests and their communities if they were not allowed to have access to such information

in the language they understood? Moreover, in the fight against toxic waste companies the

communities feel the same way, they feel “powerless” even if language or communication

wasn’t an issue because these companies have the power of money and therefore they havemore resources to win over small poor communities.