Step Towards Environmental Justice

I envision a future where everyone’s voice is represented and heard and where everyone's perspective is acknowledged. Marginalized communities have the least say when environmental decisions are made, but are affected the most by these decisions. This needs to change. I believe change can be made if every marginalized community elects one representative that they trust will pass on their true ideas and beliefs. Then, this elected representative will become a member of the decision making committee without any intervention or say from the majority. This will solely be a decision within the community. This somewhat ensures that these voices are accounted for when making environmental decisions, not only in areas that directly affect the community but decisions at a larger scale as well. These marginalized/indigenous communities have abundant valuable knowledge regarding nature and the environment that can help the planet as a whole and their opinion should be taken into consideration for both small and large scale environmental issues. At the least, this will ensure that these communities will be informed of these decisions as soon as they are made. I do still think that this does not solve everything since the voices of the more “powerful” majority communities might overshadow them, but it is a step towards justice that we should be willing to take.

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