Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of inequity. However, the AE website argues that economic growth is the
cause of environmental problems, not the solution to them, and further-
more, it does not address inequity or inequality. AE argues for sustain-
able campaigns to meet needs through proper management of natural
resources through food sovereignty, energy sovereignty, and so on. This
perspective represents a clear break with the organizations that work for
sustainable development (over 77 percent of organizations responding
to the survey). This type of organization and the projects that it promotes
are most like environmental justice groups and actions in the global
North.
The ecodependent groups call these organizations “radical” and note,
“They don't get much done, all they do is talk, talk, talk.” However,
leaders in those mainstream groups also call the ecoresisters “essential”
because they voice a critique of development and extraction that would
otherwise be absent. These groups are underrepresented in the sample
data presented above for a few reasons. First, since they receive less
funding, they are less likely to have a web presence and staffi ng to
respond to survey requests. Second, the frames of groups working in this
area are not necessarily “environmental”; rather, many consider them-
selves social justice groups with a focus on the environment. These
groups were not identifi ed in the sampling frame.
Type 4: Ecoindependent Sustainability Organizations
These groups receive no environmental goods from abroad and are
characterized by their pragmatic and innovative approaches to gaining
resources. They focus on local issues relevant to communities' quality of
life, such as access to clean water and green spaces as well as human
health, and they are typically urban. They are eco
independent
because
their issues are local, they set their own agendas, and they raise the funds
locally to accomplish their goals. They are
sustainability
organizations
because they are also seeking environmental amenities. As noted above,
the environmental justice frame is not a prevalent frame in Ecuador.
Though these organizations share some aspects of EJ—for example, a
focus on human health—their frame is broader; in the United States,
these groups might be called “sustainable community organizations.”
A group that exemplifi es this type is Vida para Quito (Life for Quito).
Vida para Quito is a nonprofi t organization created by the municipality
of Quito and the city water company to do “works that improve envi-
ronmental health and the quality of life of the city and its inhabitants”
(Vida para Quito website, translated). Vida para Quito is funded through
