Environmental Injustice and Religion: Outdoor Air Pollution Disparities in Metropolitan Salt Lake City, Utah

Distributional Environmental Injustices for a Minority Group without Minority Status: Arab Americans and Residential Exposure to Carcinogenic Air Pollution in the US

“…In other studies of EJ in the US using census/ACS data, many persons of Arab background would be included only as part of the White group, and Whites generally experience environmental privileges and reduced exposure to hazards [34,51]. This speaks to the need for a separate category in the Census and ACS to capture this population, so as to be better able to recognize and understand the injustices they face.…”

“…While the majority of US Arab Americans are not Muslim, the two terms are conflated in the eyes of most Americans [26]. While EJ research has expanded beyond examining race and class-based injustices to examine other axes of social oppression, very few distributive EJ studies have focused on religion's role in shaping patterns of environmental injustice [34]. This is despite the fact that religious affiliation is an important dimension of social inequality [34].…”

“…While EJ research has expanded beyond examining race and class-based injustices to examine other axes of social oppression, very few distributive EJ studies have focused on religion's role in shaping patterns of environmental injustice [34]. This is despite the fact that religious affiliation is an important dimension of social inequality [34]. While distributive EJ studies have largely neglected religion, the Cerrell Associates report, which was commissioned by the California Waste Management Board and disclosed to the public in 1984, suggests that religion may factor into locational decisions regarding where to locate sources of pollution [35].…”

“…Catholic communities were thought to be good potential hosts for toxic waste incineration facilities, based on the notion that they would not be likely to protest [35]. In the only distributive EJ study to examine religion in the US, researchers examined Salt Lake City and found that Mormon prevalence predicted significantly lower levels of outdoor air pollution, independent of potential confounders [34]. This is likely because Mormons are politically, economically, and culturally dominant in the study community.…”

“…This is likely because Mormons are politically, economically, and culturally dominant in the study community. Their collective social power may afford them relative safety from health-harming outdoor air pollution [34].…”