User:HandsomeSquidward311/Environmental privilege

Environmental Privilege
Environmental Privilege is a concept in environmental sociology, referring to the ability of privileged groups to keep environmental amenities for themselves and deny them to less privileged groups. More broadly, it refers to the ability of privileged groups to keep an exclusive grip on the advantages of "social place," including non-ecological amenities. It has been characterized as "the other side of the coin" from environmental racism. Like other forms of racial privilege, it does not depend on personal racism, but rather structural racism. EP is a consequence of both class and racial privilege with respect to access to the overall environment, influencing the social and economic realm. EP is the result of cultural, economic, and political power being wielded. It provides exclusive access to environmental facilities such as elite neighborhoods, rivers, parks, and open areas to particular people. Furthermore, during the COVID-19 epidemic, these groups are more likely to participate in sustainable efforts and have access to premium amenities.

Background
The concept of Environmental Privilege first developed from the historical scholarship of Dorceta Taylor, who led the shift in scholarship on environmental racism away from consideration of environmental disadvantage in isolation, and toward a more holistic approach that accounted for the discriminatory effects of restrictive zoning. Taylor describes how conservation efforts in early America set the stage for the reservation of natural resources and amenities for the wealthy. In her book, The rise of the American Conservation Movement : power, privilege, and environmental protection the conservation movement in the United States began in the middle of the nineteenth century by white American elites with Eurocentric ideologies that mirrored Manifest Destiny. Their chief aim was to preserve the wilderness and reserve the serene landscapes for themselves, displacing Indigenous communities in the West. The preservation of the wilderness, in turn, reserved the land for white America. The conservation movement has involvement in racism, sterilization, and eugenics, and ultimately resulted in the exclusivity of nature for white male recreation

Urban privilege
Today's environmental movement is maintained predominantly by wealthy whites in urban centers, therefore the city reflects the white perspective and mirrors their culture. Environmental privilege is often used in critiques of green gentrification, where environmental amenities such as urban agriculture cater largely to white or otherwise privileged urban groups. It has proven particularly illuminating in understanding the correlation between whiteness and participation in farmer's markets. Research shows low to middle-class African Americans are less likely to involve themselves in farmer’s markets or other methods of alternative food institutions as opposed to conventional food resources. Alternative food institutions are often held in primarily white, affluent communities, thereby creating the exclusivity of healthy, organic food to wealthy individuals.

Affluent people oftentimes pollute the most via greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and over consumption . Low income communities tend to endure their negative externalities. The movement is heavily involved in green consumerism: purchasing goods and services that are believed to be better for the environment but are more expensive than conventional products. Affluent communities benefit from environmental projects and sustainable development. Environmental Privilege provides benefits such as eco-friendly lifestyles and "green living," among other things. Access to pesticide-free and organic foods, greater green space and cleaner air in neighborhoods, and energy-efficient structures are just a few examples. In addition, there is access to alternative markets where specific apparel and foods can be purchased, yet overall customary designs for exclusion are reproduced.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, affluent individuals had better access to resources, medical treatment, and housing. Wealthy communities were able to leave the dense cities and travel to more rural areas, second homes, or vacation spots. Infection-rates studied in Sweden revealed that low-income communities were six-times more likely to catch the virus than affluent communities. In another analysis, African Americans and LatinX communities in the U.S. contracted COVID-19 more so than white communities because many blue-collar jobs are considered “essential workers”. Unsafe interactions with other people in dense cities and neighborhoods created a higher probability of contracting the virus. Many wealthy whites, on the other hand, were able to work from home, go on vacation, or minimize the hours worked.

Rural privilege
There are powerful connections between nature and wealthy Americans. As argued by author Justin Farrell in Billionaire Wilderness (1983), preservation of the environment is a tool utilized by affluent U.S. citizens to increase their earnings and establish exclusive pockets of the United States for themselves, often masking their influence as philanthropy. In Aspen, Colorado, American elites indulge in the picturesque scenery of surrounding nature and indulge in luxurious amenities provided by migrant employees. It is the lower class who create the lifestyles of the wealthy possible and continue to live in poverty. Billionaire Wilderness explores how the ultra-rich are buying up land and utilizing one of the world's most pristine ecosystems to climb even further up the socioeconomic ladder, weaving captivating storytelling with thought-provoking analysis. In Teton County, Wyoming rich people are tormented by stigmas, shame, and concern about their social standing, and who appropriate nature and rural people to create more virtuous and deserving versions of themselves. Billionaire Wilderness uncovers the hidden links between wealth concentration and the environment, two of the most serious and contested concerns of our day. Teton County, with a per capita income of $194,485, has the highest per capita income of all 3,144 counties in the United States, according to the US Department of Commerce. New York County (Manhattan) is a distant second at $148, 002, and Wheeler County, Georgia is the lowest in the US at $15,787. Teton County has one of the highest median family incomes in the country, at $96,113, putting it in the top 2.6 percent of all counties in the country. Teton County was not always prosperous, but as time passed, the local economy improved.

This common approach has repeatedly highlighted how a small group of people's wealth is translated into power, operating downward on the rest of society, establishing class-based advantages, and expanding the social divide. The natural environment is utilized as a weapon for economic gain, private access to nature, and gilded altruism, and how wealth concentration has created the richest and most unequal community in the country. However, this method has the potential to isolate indiviuals from real-world experiences and is restricted in its ability to completely explain how vast wealth operates in the lives and brains of individuals who possess it. It ignores the plethora of cultural, sociological, psychological, and other issues that come with immense power. It ignores the plethora of cultural, sociological, psychological, and other issues that come with vast wealth. There are people who exist beneath these class-based structures, navigating basic existential features of the human experience such as seeking happiness, yearning for social acceptance and integration, striving to be a good person, and so on.

This typical technique has repeatedly highlighted how a small group of people's money is transformed to power, working downward on the rest of society, producing class-based advantages, and widening the divide between different social groupings by focusing on these impersonal dynamics.