In Nigeria today, people are being harmed by the continuous Oil Spills that are occurring every year. About three hundred of spills occur every year, causing up to six hundred gallons that are being spilled in the time period of fifty years now. Environmental Justice is wondering why anyone hasn’t stopped this and who is responsible for the crucial act. Oil companies in Nigeria have consistently blamed oil spills on poor farmers and fisher men and women; which in some cases this may be true. But a great deal of spills are due first to pipes which are old and rusted and irregularly maintained; and secondly the fact that the many pipelines run over ground in front of built up areas even in front of people’s homes and are therefore more vulnerable to accidental damages. Their denial of responsibility also ignores why the pipelines are located in highly built up areas and near to fishing ponds, creeks, and farmlands causing them to live in toxic waste. Since the pipelines are located in these general area it are threatening the wildlife of species and animals; causing fish, turtles, and birds to live in harmful and deadly environment, the pollution is destroying the livelihoods of many of the twenty million people living there, and damaging crops and fueling the upsurge in violence. Instead of having a Restorative Justice and government to say that is enough and wanting to rebuild its country and save everything that is endanger; the Nigeria government is earning profit from the oil industry, about sixty percent of the oil profit that is made from the oil companies are supposed to go to the government and forty percent goes to the oil companies. They say that Nigeria government is supposed to donate the percentage that they receive to the Delta, but they are claiming that they haven’t received a dime from them. Which is leading to believe that the government of Nigeria is pocketing the money for themselves, because number prove to say about three hundred billions of dollars in revenue has disappeared and is not able to trace where it went. Then one half of the daily oil production that is earned goes to the United States, so in a sense the Nigeria government and the United States benefits from this act that is occurring right now.
The Distrubutive justice is aware of the crisis that is going on to Nigeria, but instead of wanting progress and development in the country they are sitting back and doing nothing of what sort. By wanting good in a society, deontological ethics need to come into play. In the reading “Environmental Justice,” Figueroa states that when the environmental justice takes a burden or an effect on the environment it leads to movement and development to occur. “Examples of environmental burdens include exposure to industrial pollution and hazardous materials, unsanitary or unsafe working conditions, the exploitation and loss of traditional environmental heritage, and the depletion of essential natural resources. Environmental benefits include access to clean, safe environments at home and at work, and access to nonindustrial milieus like national parks and forests and regional open-space preserves.” Why hasn’t the government stepped in and put a stop in this? Many environmentalists has been wondering the same thing, knowing that the homes, and general popular areas were consisting of major pipelines for oil, you would think that they would not build homes there but instead they did causing crisis and life’s to be in danger. EPA wanted to put a stop to this since toxic waste and pipelines were affect the environment, but capitalism played a major part because they were receiving money so in a sense they did not see an issue. Figueroa relates to the issue by saying, “Homeowners Association, which sparked the national antitoxic movement by forcing state and federal agencies to relocate more than 900 families from their neighborhood, which had been built on top of 21,000 tons of buried chemical waste.” In Summers perspective in “Environmental Justice,” it discusses that we can look at different issues and the level of thinking a human has. “Living together in a community creates benefits and burdens that exists only within community, and we cannot account for community benefits ad burdens solely in terms of individual rights and responsibilities.” By saying the government did not stand up and put a stop to the oil spills, there is only so much a community can do without causing issues. In a sense will this crisis ever end and someone will stand up to what is right, even though this has been going on for fifty years now. Will the animals and humans be able to survive in a country that is polluted and contaminated?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3UfehL5JU
www.worldweatherpost.com/2011/01/27/shell-refuses-to-pay-for-nigeria-oil-spill-pollution/
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