Final Connections

As our time blogging comes to an end, I thought it would be a nice refresher to show the connections between urban ecology, energy politics, conservation, and environmental justice.  Energy is clearly a point of contention because money, access, health, and the environment all play a role.  Sometimes the cheapest energy is not the cleanest, and sometimes this energy does not make it to everyone in need.  For example, natural gas is a cleaner energy source than coal, but there are dangers attributed to hydraulic-fracturing.  This impacts people disproportionately; usually the areas intended for piping and "fracking" are poorer areas.  The effects become disparate impacts because the energy harnessed by hydro-fracking is more often than not piped away from the local area.  

Along with the constant search and battle over energy, conservation comes into play.  This ideology is mainly focused on sustainable use of resources, and not over-exploiting.  While it does encourage use of natural resources, it fails to account for the necessity of chaos and change in that ecosystem.  With our current energy sources, we should be conserving as many as possible in order to live more sustainably and environmentally friendly; yet, we should not forget how important change is to a healthy ecosystem and environment.

This brings us to urban ecology.  Urban ecology is the interaction and relationship between organisms in an urban setting.  Through conservationist eyes, we should have more "green" spaces which encourage public health as well as environmental health.  Building more parks, removing LULU's and brown fields, and preventing potential harm caused by energy extraction are all involved in how humans and other organisms interact within the city.  The location for LULU's and brown fields are, as we have discussed countless time, located in poorer areas and in areas predominately with people of color.  This side of urban ecology exacerbates environmental racism and adds to the environmental justice movement. 

Through conserving energy resources, debating the best forms and extraction tools in regards to energy, and examining the urban ecology as a whole creates this complex view of the environment in relation to people.  This relationship and connection is part of the foundation of environmental justice and continues to shape the movement today.