HS415 Unit 7 Assignment

Unit 7 Assignment

Purdue University Global

HS415 Environmental Health

Unit 7 Assignment

Environmental justice is important in order ensure all people regardless of ethnicity, nationality, race, or income receive fair treatment in regards to environmental issues. It often involves ethical decision making due to it concerning people and the possibility of some being treated unfairly or poorly. The main goal is to safeguard all people benefit from a healthy and clean environment.

The U.S. Department of Energy is one of the many federal agencies that signed this particular memorandum. It was founded in 1977 and has been involved with multiple energy-related programs throughout history. Its mission statement is to, “ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions” (USDE, 2015). One of the first things that this agency did was implement training in order to promote the recently released Executive Order 12898 in regards to the American Indian population. This training provided staff with an understanding of environmental justice and federal Indian law and policy impacts, tribal government authority, best practices for working and consulting with tribes, and cultural awareness. This is just one great example of both ensuring its employees carry out environmental just solutions with populations such as American Indian tribes, and also how the Department of Energy attempts to protect citizens from possible threats.

The Department of Energy has published multiple papers and articles on its website that promote the Executive Order 12898 and environmental justice to its company and employees. They have published articles to include training initiatives, guidance, and action regarding various issues. From what I have researched their attempts at regulating proper protection for the population of the American people has been well done and effective.

A perfect example of ethical decision making is when concerning the Flint, Michigan water crisis. The Department of Energy was not directly involved with this, but there was also another initiative for this area concerning the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Ethical decision making must be in place because this area for example has a high rate of minority’s and low-income population. In order to properly address this populations concern, one must understand how these people live and what they understand. Versus a high-income and education population, people may not understand the mission at hand or the effects of change in a particular area. This can create a benefit to some people while putting other groups at risk. For the water crisis, the water supply for Flint was changed and caused lead poisoning in many children and adults and is still being dealt with to this day. This is an example of how ethical decision making was not used correctly and in turn effecting thousands of people.

Reference

Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice and Executive Order 12898

USDE. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved July 24, 2019, from https://www.energy.gov/about-us

USDE. (2015, October 13). Environmental Justice Activities: Tribal Training Complies with

DOE Order 144.1 and EO 12898 for Environmental Justice. Retrieved from

https://www.energy.gov/lm/articles/environmental-justice-activities-tribal-training-

complies-doe-order-1441-and-eo-12898