THE PRECIPICE OF JUSTICE: EQUITY, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN INDIAN COUNTRY AND RURAL COMMUNITIES

Energy justice, environmental justice, climate justice, and just transitions all offer frameworks for assessing questions of equity, energy, and the environment. This Essay assesses these frameworks' relevance in the context of two case studies: Indian country and coal-reliant rural communities. Both types of communities are, in one sense, prototypical environmental justice communities. Yet, both are unique in distinct and overlapping ways. In Indian country, questions of sovereignty are central to issues of environmental equity. Meanwhile, geographic isolation and a lack of economic diversification shape rural communities and parts of Indian country, making relationships with the energy sector particularly challenging. The Essay examines dynamic, ongoing policy developments relevant to both contexts, including the Biden Administration's new commitments to renewable energy targets, the American Rescue Plan, and state initiatives like Colorado's Just Transitions Office and New Mexico's Energy Transition Act of 2019. The discussion illustrates how questions of equity and the environment often transcend and blur the lines across the theoretical frameworks. Ultimately, we assert that these communities are on the precipice of justice. But justice is within reach for these and similarly situated communities, if the political will remains strong to pursue the policies with the strongest commitments to equity.