Published April 18, 2024
By Christine Reed
Madeleine Lewis, attorney and associate research professional of law and policy in the School of Energy Resources’ (SER) Center for Energy Regulation & Policy Analysis (CERPA) and Center for Economic Geology Research (CEGR), published an article in the Winter 2024 edition of the American Bar Association’s Natural Resources & Environment Magazine helping to define the term ‘environmental justice’ and what it means for energy communities.
The article examines the challenges of implementing a one-size-fits-all framework of environmental justice, particularly for rural energy states like Wyoming.
Additionally, it analyzes potential issues within the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, under which 40% of overall benefits from certain federal funding must flow to “disadvantaged communities” with an ultimate end-goal of promoting environmental justice and examines the position of “energy communities” within predominant environmental justice frameworks.
“While the concept of ‘environmental justice’ is not new, the role that it plays today in shifting energy trends has changed dramatically,” says Lewis. “I wanted to provide some historical context for the intended function of environmental justice while also helping to show that current energy communities are at risk of experiencing major injustices if current mechanism for identifying disadvantaged communities are not adjusted appropriately to include them in their analysis.”
Lewis concludes that current screening and mapping tools for identifying environmental justice communities are inadequate and may not provide a full picture of a communities’ relationship with energy. However, she hopes that the overview will assist energy communities with identifying the disconnect between current screening tools and will help to better inform conversations with federal entities seeking to enforce environmental justice requirements.
“Something that has been universally acknowledged, is that many communities next to large-scale energy projects have not typically had a voice or representation in the conversations about where a project is sited,” adds Lewis. “There is a concerted effort from federal agencies to do better in term stakeholder outreach and engagement. I hope that this article can not only provide some important guidance concerning the conversations that need to be taking place, but also some direction as to who should be included.”
To download the research brief, full article, and access other resources released by CERPA, visit the website www.uwyo.edu/ser.
