Using environmental justice to inform disaster recovery: Vulnerability and electricity restoration in Puerto Rico

• Published in: Environmental science & policy 2021-08, Vol.122, p.59-71
• Main Authors: Sotolongo, Marisa, Kuhl, Laura, Baker, Shalanda H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Environmental justice; Environmental justice index; Hurricane Maria; Puerto Rico
• ISSN: 1462-9011; 1873-6416
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.04.004

•Environmental justice analysis shows inequitable hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico.•Central rural communities and Black communities were last to have power restored.•EJ index construction requires contextual environmental and demographic variables.•Disaster recovery policy must incorporate justice and equity. This paper uses an environmental justice framework to explore whether existing vulnerabilities in Puerto Rico are associated with the rate of electricity restoration after Hurricane María. Based on the literature discussing the relationship between vulnerability and environmental justice, we expected that the areas identified as vulnerable to environmental injustice would recover more slowly than less vulnerable areas. We use regression analysis to analyze how well three vulnerability indices based on environmental justice variables predict electricity restoration. We also map the resulting data to spatially situate recovery patterns. This analysis produces mixed evidence of our predictions. In addition to environmental justice factors, other factors, such as terrain and proximity to electric transmission lines, also affected recovery rates, complicating the narrative of recovery. These findings suggest that policymakers seeking to mitigate vulnerability to electricity outages in the wake of natural disasters should incorporate environmental justice analysis in their recovery prioritization decisions, and that this analysis should be contextually specific to the recovery area. Our analysis also includes the construction of environmental justice indices, which have the potential to be a useful advocacy tool for communities seeking to uncover the priorities of stakeholders engaged in recovery.