ABSTRACT
The environmental movement in the United States emerged with agendas that focused on such areas as wilderness and wildlife preservation, resource conservation, pollution abatement, and population control. Despite the wide coverage, there is a dearth of material on the convergence of environmentalism and social justice advocacy. Social action groups that take on environmental issues as part of their agenda are often on the political Left. Environmental and civil rights issues were presented as compatible agenda items by the conference organizers. Local black leaders and community organizations were identified through the reputational approach and newspapers articles, editorials, and feature stories. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen black opinion leaders. These interviews were used to supplement archival documents and the more structured interviews that were conducted in the household surveys. Newspaper article clip files from local public libraries were especially helpful in tracking local problems, including their discovery, local reactions, and government and industry responses.
