Sustainably Speaking: Considering Linguistic Isolation in Citywide Sustainability Planning

COVID-19 and health inequality: the nexus of race, income and mortality in New York City

“…Because vulnerability is compounded by a host of factors that include environmental (Brulle and Pellow, 2006), diet (Méjean et al , 2013), poverty (Sabanayagam and Shankar, 2012), lack of access to education and health services (Wagstaff and Watanabe, 2002; Krieger et al , 2005; Benach, 2020); we also see a strong nexus with environmental justice efforts – which seeks to alleviate disparities and create healthy living conditions for all communities and environments – in NYC and beyond. Because of gaps that cities, including NYC, have given to environmental justice and racial equality concerns, along with gulfs of engagement with linguistically isolation households and residents (Teron, 2015; Teron, 2016); it is vital that these factors be considered in concert with public health efforts to reduce disease mortality.…”

Energy Democracy and the City: Evaluating the Practice and Potential of Municipal Sustainability Planning

“…In designing and implementing energy programs at the city level, municipalities need to be cognizant of potential language barriers among residents. In failing to do so, approximately 10,000 adult DC residents, who are self-identified as speaking English as less than "very well" (Teron, 2016) are locked out of the energy sphere.…”

“…With social capital being a recognized element in environmental decision making that prioritizes public participatory processes (Peterson et al, 2006) argue that social capital alone, in absence of sturdy state structures will not create an enabling environment for democracy to occur and might result in less than expected environmental protection outcomes. There is also evidence of a lack of attention to equity and justice concerns within broader sustainability policy on the local scale (Teron, 2015(Teron, , 2016, and due to this, it is critical that we assess not only who is at the table for local-scale energy governance, but also ensure that participants have voice in decision making and are empowered.…”

“…This work acts as a companion piece to earlier efforts that have evaluated municipal sustainability plans' attention to justice concerns (Teron, 2015(Teron, , 2016. We diverge from broader environmental and sustainability planning concerns here, by specifically evaluating energy policy and putting forth research that can aid energy planners as well as community based interests.…”