by Jamale Stanley
It is odd that so many in the West (and America in particular) are detached from the very things that support and nourish our existence. Clearly, we rely on natural systems for survival (e.g.: water, food, and clean air), so it stands to reason that we should have a fundamental commitment to the wellbeing of these systems. Curiously, however, this fundamental commitment is largely lacking today, and culture as whole still seems under the spell of the perverse idea that somehow humans are independent (distinct/separated) from the natural world that has formed our bones and flesh, allows our thoughts to drift with the winds and tides, and fills our lungs and hearts with the deepest joys and anguish. This is a sentimental take, but it is necessary given the gravity of increasingly illogical public policy being pushed onto the global stage. Take, for example, environmental policy in the United States, both on federal and state levels regardless of political affiliations.
Part of environmental policy is the concern and management of pollution. Indeed, pollution is an existential threat—not only to us but our kin across the flora and fauna spectrum. I use kin here as a gentle reminder that these relationships are entangled and there is no way to untangle them. So, what is pollution, then? According to Pollution Is Colonialism by scholar and scientist Max Liboiron, the modern concept emerged in the 1920s by two sanitary engineers Harold Streeter and Earle Phelps as they worked on conservationist efforts in the Ohio River. Their theory was that there was a point that waterways could not “purify” themselves from contaminants and thus the excess beyond that point, i.e. pollution, was measurable. The premise is deeply flawed, and the conclusion is worse. Streeter attempted his experiment first in New York and the waterways there were deemed unfit to test his theory. However, after seemingly proving his theory correct in Ohio, he and Phelps concluded nonetheless that his theory was applicable to all waterways. To our detriment, environmental policy makers agreed both here and abroad. Indeed, all waterways could and would now be used as sinks for waste and all manner of things so long as that “pollution” threshold is not met.
The premise is flawed because all contaminants are not the same. Liboiron uses plastic as a case study into this reality. Plastic does not degrade in a way that can be “purified” and most are coated in per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) also known as forever chemicals. As a consequence of the explosion in the use of plastics, they are everywhere. Microplastics are found in the deepest parts of the oceans, they are in the atmosphere to be returned to the earth in rain, and, of course, they are found in our bodies and the bodies of other creatures across the planet. Forever chemicals are in those places too. The effects from microplastics and forever chemicals on us and ecosystems are widespread and the harm that they have caused is being discovered with every new study into this existential problem.
This should, at least, indicate a policy failure. It also highlights the glaring flaw in Streeter and Phelp’s theory. And yet, both remain. This fact should drive us to scrutinize policy in more substantial ways and enact change. Indeed, it is common to see anti-littering signs throughout highways and such, promising hefty fines for those of us normal folk without ethical boundaries. Rightfully so—we should be obligated to take care of the planet even if we do not feel that way. And yet, at the same time somehow, it is often legal for massive corporate and industrial entities to dump waste by the tons into waterways, oceans, and other spaces that still affect entire ecosystems as well as our existence. So, industry and profit margins cannot continue to dictate environmental policy—we will not survive as a species otherwise.
For further research:
Pollution Is Colonialism, Max Liboiron
https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/microplastics-everywhere
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/forever-chemicals-called-pfas-show-your-food-clothes-and-home
https://time.com/6281242/pfas-forever-chemicals-home-beauty-body-products
Jamale Stanley is a Religious Studies graduate student that focuses on the intersection of religion, land, colonialism, and race.
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