Another area of change brought on by the assistance of the EDF is that which now more explicitly connects environmental degradation with certain social and demographic factors. The creation of its Scorecard Website in 2001 would bring a new dimension to the social discourse on environmental issues. According to Dooley (2001), with this new scorecard in place, "on the main Environmental Justice page, entering a ZIP code generates a report of the varying degrees of environmental burden within that area for different racial, ethnic, and income groups. The burdens include releases of toxic chemicals, cancer risk from hazardous air pollutants, and facilities emitting criteria air pollutants." (Dooley, p. 367) Other recent decisions also reflect the degree of success that the EDF has had in moving governments forward on specific issues. So is this reflected in the text by Zimmerman (1995), which reports on a decision in the case of City of Chicago v EDF (114 S. Ct. 1588) in 1994, which brought regulatory control over the ash emitted by the incineration of municipal waste. The result of the decision instigated by the involvement of the EDF would be the dictate that the city would thereafter have to dispose of said ash waste in special containment units to prevent the penetration of the local environment with cadmium and lead. (Zimmerman, p. 1)

Origins and Preconditions:

Forcing the hand of government to act in order to effect positive environmental change is consistent with the early inception of the organization. In fact, its statement of Mission includes a concise history which details the groups beginnings as a team of scientists dedicated to bringing restriction to the use of DDT in agricultural operations. The mosquito control substance, EDF reports, was proven responsible for significantly reducing raptor populations and placing ospreys and...

After DDT-producing companies refused to cease the distribution of this substance, the group of scientists engaged the proper legal channels with the enlistment of a lawyer and brought about litigation that would force a banning of the substance.
The group's success in instigating change would stimulate an influx of requests for advocacy for a great many worthy causes in the discussion of environmental preservation. Because these were too great in number and scope to address in its nascent form, the group of scientists formed the Environmental Defense Fund. The preconditions for its creation were, therefore, the emergent demand for assistance in addressing countless environmental challenges that, as is the case with the DDT ban, address individual strands of a highly entangled set of challenges.

Conclusion:

The origins and preconditions leading to the emergence of the EDF help to underscore the reasons for the specific orientation maintained by the organization today. Particularly, its capacity to use the proper legal, corporate and political channels to effect change would be instated by its early success in bringing about the ban on DDT and would help to forge a path both for the future of the EDF and for many of the more effectively engaged agents for social and political change in the environmental movement. Its brand of compromise would prove highly influential.

Works Cited:

Dooley, E.E. (2001). Environmental Defense Scorecard: Environmental Justice. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(8).

Environmental Defense Fund. (2011). Our Mission and History. EDF.org.

F.B. (1979). Spectrum. Environment, 21(2).

Zimmerman, J.F. (1995). High Court Action To Elevate Costs Of Solid Waste Disposal. National Civic Review,…