Final answer:
The environmental justice movement began in Warren County, North Carolina and is closely tied to racial and economic justice, highlighted by the PCB landfill protests in 1982 and cases like the Flint water crisis. The correct answer is option C).
Step-by-step explanation:
The environmental justice movement began in Warren County, North Carolina; it is connected to issues of racial and economic justice. In the 1980s, it was noticed that hazardous waste sites were often located in minority neighborhoods, leading to claims of environmental racism. This concept suggests that these communities face a disproportionate number of environmental hazards due to racial and socioeconomic factors, rather than mere chance or economics alone.
One pivotal event in the history of environmental justice occurred in 1982, when the state of North Carolina decided to dispose of PCB-laden soil in a landfill in Warren County, a community with a predominantly African American population and one of the poorest in the state. Residents, along with civil rights activists, staged large-scale protests, marking the beginning of the environmental justice movement as it is recognized today.
The movement was propelled by the work of those such as Robert Bullard and by incidents like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, which highlighted the interconnections between environmental harm and vulnerable communities.