Agenda for a Sustainable America

by Dernbach, John C.

• ISBN13: 9781585761333
• ISBN10: 1585761338
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-15
• Publisher: West Academic

Summary

"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 Americadescribes what we need to do to make the promise a reality. It assesses trends in twenty-eight separate areas of American lifeincluding 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.

Author Biography

John Dernbach is professor of law at Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Editor and Contributing Author	p. xiii
Contributing Authors	p. xv
Introduction
Sustainable Development and the United States	p. 3
Progress Toward Sustainability: A Report Card by the Contributing Authors	p. 15
Agenda for a Sustainable America by the Contributing Authors	p. 27
Six Areas of Greater Progress
Local Governance and Sustainability: Major Progress, Significant Challenges	p. 43
Brownfields Development: From Individual Sites to Smart Growth	p. 57
Business and Industry: Transitioning to Sustainability	p. 71
Higher Education: More and More Laboratories for Inventing a Sustainable Future	p. 93
Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade Education: Fragmentary Progress in Equipping Students to Think and Act in a Challenging World	p. 109
Religion and Ethics Focused on Sustainability	p. 129
Consumption, Population, and Poverty
Sustainable and Unsustainable Developments in the U.S. Energy System	p. 145
Materials: From High Consumption to More Sustainable Resource Use	p. 159
The Importance of Curbing and Ending Population Growth to Achieve Sustainability	p. 171
Poverty: Greening the Tax and Transfer System to Create More Opportunities	p. 187
Conservation and Management of Natural Resources
Freshwater: Sustaining Use by Protecting Ecosystems	p. 205
Oceans and Estuaries: The Ocean Commissions' Unfulfilled Vision	p. 221
Air Quality: The Need to Replace Basic Technologies With Cleaner Alternatives	p. 239
Climate Change: The Unmet Obligation to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions	p. 251
Biodiversity Conservation: An Unrealized Aspiration	p. 269
Sustainable Forestry: Moving From Concept to Consistent Practice	p. 285
Waste and Toxic Chemicals
Toxic Chemicals and Pesticides: Not Yet Preventing Pollution	p. 305
Hazardous Waste and Superfund: Few Changes and Little Progress	p. 321
Municipal Solid Waste: Building Stronger Connections to Jobs and the Economy	p. 335
Land Use and Transportation
Land Use: Blending Smart Growth With Social Equity and Climate Change Mitigation	p. 349
Transportation: Challenges and Choices	p. 365
International Trade, Finance, and Development Assistance
International Trade: Sustainability as a Multilateral, Bilateral, and Regional Effort	p. 383
Official Development Assistance: Toward Funding for Sustainability	p. 399
Financing Sustainable Development	p. 413
Lead Poisoning and Pollution: Opportunities for Internationalized Solutions	p. 425
State and Federal Governance
State Governance: Leadership on Climate Change	p. 441
Public Access to Information, Participation, and Justice: Forward and Backward Steps Toward an Informed and Engaged Citizenry	p. 459
National Governance: Still Stumbling Toward Sustainability	p. 479
Index	p. 497
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