Environmental Justice and Emerging Information Communication Technology: A Review for U.S. Natural Disaster Management

The Internet age has led to a proliferation of so-called emerging information communication technologies (eICTs). As the personal use of the Internet, mobile devices, and social media has expanded and evolved, these eICTs have been incorporated into strategies to improve risk communication associated with natural disaster management. A review of eICT use as part of natural disaster communication is critical to knowing whether the new technologies support the needs and risk cultures of historically disenfranchised populations and whether they ultimately provide an opportunity to better address both acute and chronic environmental hazards. There is a need to know whether eICTs differ from other technologies in the ways that they exacerbate old environmental injustices and/or create new ones. This article reviews the eICT literature based with a focus on the U.S. Through a review of published and gray literature, we evaluate whether research articles acknowledge or directly address environmental and social disparity related to eICT use in natural disasters. The articles included in the review suggest an emerging, but diffuse operational definition of environmental justice. We find the greatest emphasis on recognizing diverse stakeholders and the least concern for solutions that reduce environmental burdens or their inequitable distribution.