Air Pollution Environmental Justice

This course is intended as an elective on air pollution and environmental justice. Air pollution is a major public health crisis and also a justice issue, as the poor and non-white suffer the most severe consequences of poor air quality both in the US and abroad. We will explore historical and modern air pollution episodes from the lens of environmental justice. We will also explore efforts to address/solve air pollution injustices using community-based participatory research, sensor networks, and other approaches. We will explore the interconnectedness of climate justice and air quality.

1) The major categories of air pollutants, their sources, and climate and health effects.

2) How air pollutants, including criteria pollutants, air toxics, and greenhouse gases, are regulated in the United States and some examples globally

3) Understanding of the tools that can be used to study air pollution and uncover injustices

4) Understanding how air pollution issues relate to race, gender, socioeconomic status, ability, etc.

5) Understanding how air pollution and climate change impacts communities, and potential ways to solve problems