FASB 295 and online.

To participate via Zoom, register at:
https://utah.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvdOmpqD0vGtCRHWDdpox9LMzS3YMJ0lZZ

Using two case studies of ongoing environmental justice struggles in Louisiana, this talk will focus on how advocates can work in partnership with affected communities to advance environmental justice (EJ). Given the limitations of the law and legal tools in the EJ context, EJ advocates must think creatively, collaboratively, and across disciplines when designing and implementing advocacy strategies. The talk will explore the EJ struggles of two historically Black communities in the United States. In St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, the speaker and community members undertook a household health study, drew on corporate social responsibility strategies, and used grassroots organizing tools to fight a polluting facility in the community’s backyard. In Mossville, Louisiana, the speaker worked with community members to expose the racially discriminatory effects of an industrial buyout and engage in public dialogue with a polluting facility. These approaches were successful because affected communities were at the helm and because multiple advocacy levers were used in tandem.

Ruhan S. Nagra is Associate Professor of Law and founding director of the Environmental Justice Clinic at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. Prior to joining the U of U, Nagra was Director of the Environmental Justice Initiative and a Senior Clinical Supervisor at the University Network for Human Rights, which she co-founded in 2018. At the University Network, Nagra worked with frontline communities in the United States and globally to challenge environmental injustice. Nagra was previously a clinical instructor at Stanford Law School’s Human Rights Clinic. Nagra’s work has been covered in major news outlets, including VICE, CBS Evening News, The Washington Post, Reuters, The Guardian, USA Today, Axios, Newsweek, and Democracy Now. She holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a B.A. in Human Biology from Brown University.