The environment as a human rights issue

From lead pipes in Flint, Michigan, and toxic sites in East Chicago to severe hurricanes and flooding in Texas, Miami and Puerto Rico, environmental and climate disasters pack a hard punch on low-income communities and communities of color. Earlier this year, EPIC’s Mark Templeton, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School and director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic, discussed the intersection of environmental and social justice issues with Jacqui Patterson, the director of what is now the NAACP’s largest program – the environmental and climate justice program. The discussion was part of an event hosted by the UChicago Phoenix Sustainability Initiative.