One Two Three depicts the dire costs of corporate greed and shows the difficulty that many small communities face when they try to attain environmental justice. The novel also illustrates the ways in which large, unethical corporations commonly prey on under-resourced communities; as a whole, the story is designed to demonstrate the impunity with which such corporations deceive community members and create environmental catastrophes, and the triplets’ battle against Belsum models the David-and-Goliath nature of attempting to bring large conglomerates to justice.

Belsum Chemical originally chose Bourne as its site in part because of its geography but also because the town’s poverty would make the residents beholden to Belsum for their income and economic stability, thus rendering them helpless to protest against the company’s egregiously unethical practices even when the plant’s runoff began causing rampant illness and widespread fatalities. The residents needed the jobs that Belsum would bring, and they did not have as much choice as a more affluent community about where those jobs would come from. Had there been greater economic opportunity in Bourne to begin with, they surely would not have needed to take such a great risk with the safety of their town. Both the Groves and the Templeton families were very aware of the town’s position and exploited the unequal power dynamics for their own personal gain.