Agenda for a sustainable America
- Publisher:
- Environmental Law Institute
- Publication date:
- 2009-01-18
- Authors:
-
John C. Dernbach
(Editor) - ISBN:
- 978-1-58576-133-3
Description:
Sustainability is quickly becoming a household word in the United States. Public alarm over climate change has helped to make sustainable development a major public policy issue and a topic of growing importance in the daily lives of Americans. This book is a comprehensive assessment of U.S. progress toward sustainable development and a roadmap of necessary next steps toward achieving a sustainable America. Packed with facts, figures, and the well-informed opinions of thirty-two experts, it provides an illuminating snapshot of sustainability in the United States today. And each of the contributors suggests where we need to go next, recommending three to five specific actions that we should take during the next five to ten years. It thus offers a comprehensive agenda that citizens, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and government leaders and policymakers can use to make decisions today and to plan for the future. Sustainable development holds enormous promise for improving the quality of life for Americans over the coming decades. Agenda for a Sustainable America describes what we need to do to make the promise a reality. It assesses trends in twenty-eight separate areas of American life including forestry; transportation; oceans and estuaries; religion; and state, local, and national governance. In every area, contributors reveal what sustainable development could mean, with suggestions that are specific, desirable, and achievable. Their expert recommendations point the way toward greater economic and social well-being, increased security, and environmental protection and restoration for current and future generations of Americans. Together they build a convincing case for how sustainable development can improve our opportunities and our lives.
Six Areas of Greater Progress
- Local Governance and Sustainability: Major Progress, Significant Challenges
- Brownfields Development: From Individual Sites to Smart Growth
- Business and Industry: Transitioning to Sustainability
- Higher Education: Emerging Laboratories for Inventing a Sustainable Future
- Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade Education: Fragmentary Progress in Equipping Students to Think and Act in a Challenging World
- Religion and Ethics Focused on Sustainability
Consumption, Population, and Poverty
Conservation and Management of Natural Resources
- Freshwater: Sustaining Use by Protecting Ecosystems
- Oceans and Estuaries: The Ocean Commissions' Unfulfilled Vision
- Air Quality: The Need to Replace Basic Technologies With Cleaner Alternatives
- Climate Change: The Unmet Obligation to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Biodiversity Conservation: An Unrealized Aspiration
- Sustainable Forestry: Moving From Concept to Consistent Practice
International Trade, Finance, and Development Assistance