Direct Effects of Poverty, Race, and Gender on Landfill Presence across the Contiguous United States

• In Event: 315 - Open Refereed Roundtables Session. B. Table 01 Shared and Contested Spaces
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 06. Inequality, Place and Environment

Abstract

The research presented here investigates the direct effects of poverty, race, and gender on landfill presence at the county level of analysis across the contiguous United States. Landfills are linked to major forms of environmental harms, such as water contamination, production of greenhouse gases and accumulation of toxins in human and natural systems. Differential risk of exposure to environmental harms based on social status is known as environmental inequality. Using a unique data set, quantitative analysis on the presence and absence of landfills in counties across the contiguous U.S. was performed in order to examine the unique effects of poverty, race, and gender on landfill presence. Findings suggest the importance of including gender in understanding socioenvironmental inequality as well as the persistence of race as a factor in the presence of environmental inequality. Conclusions and implications are discussed. Future research should focus on interactive effects of intersecting axes of social inequality.

Author

• Clare Cannon, Tulane University