Sanchez, J. (2018, July 6). New Environmental Justice Report Finds California Transportation Commission Far Behind Equity Goals. Retrieved November 16, 2018, from http://www.calbike.org/new_environmental_justice_report_finds_california_transportation_commission_far_behind_goals

 

The California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) held a meeting to discuss their Environmental Justice Agency Assessment. The assessment shows negative advancements by the CTC in making transportation investments more unbiased.  Specifically, it reveals thats its investments maintain the regulations that burden low income families in California. This includes the continuation of polluted highways, dangerous roadways, and warehouse districts. Californians located in close proximity to transportation sites are exposed to extreme levels of nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and ozone,  and suffer more disease and shorter life expectancy as a result.

 

This relates to the Environmental Science concept of sustainability because when we build transportation infrastructure, it negatively impacts future generations because all succeeding development patterns connect with them. The rush in spending money is meant to prove to the voters that they are getting value from the gas tax, however this severely harms low-income communities and is detrimental for future generations. Surges in spending can result or parallel with the tragedy of the commons, which is not a sustainable way to interact with the environment.