During the June meeting of the President's Council on Sustainable Development, we invited individuals representing a variety of sectors to provide information, input, and comments for the Council's consideration. Each was asked to answer the question: "What would be your recommendation to President Clinton to achieve sustainability in the United States?" Below are summaries of their testimonies:
The Citizens Network for Sustainable Development is a leading national grassroots organization in the United States committed to advancing sustainable development nationally and globally, and its members have been active participants in the work of the President's Council on Sustainable Development. Mencer Donahue (Don) Edwards, Co-Chair of the Citizens Network for Sustainable Development, has followed closely the work of the President's Council since its inception and has high expectations for the report.
In his remarks, Edwards expressed his belief that many American citizens are committed to a sustainable America. He would like us to deliver the message to President Clinton that, "The time has come to start the sustainability clock. Tell the American people that there is a way out of the growing despair, cynicism, and fear that have begun to engulf more and more of them and their communities. The time has come for America's national leadership to be chosen on the basis of their commitment to making Am erica sustainable."
Edwards stressed that sustainability is no longer just a theory. He believes the Council has demonstrated that the concept of sustainability can be effectively translated into a national vision, principles, goals, and measurable outcomes. The Council has demonstrated that hard-fought political consensus can be reached by community activists, corporate leaders, federal bureaucrats, academics, and local elected officials.
In addition, Edwards believes that to achieve sustainability, the American people must accept that the concept of economic growth, as we have known it since the industrial revolution, is no longer relevant in post-industrial America. It has led American society as far as it can, and we must now redefine the "American dream, "progress," and "the middle-class standard of living." We need a new set of expectations that incorporate and reflect a new philosophy of sustainability.
Finally, Edwards remarked that, "America needs a vigorous and rigorous civic discussion about value-added economic growth and human-centered social development. We want the President of the United States to begin this discussion."
J.P. Myers, President of the W. Alton Jones Foundation, focused on the need for better science and the time lags associated with understanding the risks of the products we develop. As a scientist, Myers is concerned about what steps are both necessary and sufficient to achieve sustainable development.
Myers stressed that the time lags between the invention, mass production, and global distribution of a chemical, to the discovery of harmful flaws, could be decades later when the time for prevention has passed. This creates "immense vulnerabilities" and safety issues that should be of significant concern to our society. For example, Thomas Midgely first synthesized chlorofluorocarbons in 1928 and was awarded the highest prize in American chemistry in 1941. Sixty years later, scientists now have incontrovertible evidence of CFC's global impact on stratospheric ozone, Myers said.
Another example is Paul Mueller, who discovered the insecticidal properties of DDT in 1938 for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1944. Fifty-seven years after DDT's invention and 19 years after it was banned in the United States, an international science journal published a major new finding that one of the principal breakdown products of DDT interferes with the workings of male hormones. This suggests DDT, along with other androgen blockers, may contribute to increasing anomalies in human reproduction, including an apparent worldwide reduction in sperm count.
Similar time warps can be told for PCBs, some CFC replacements, and a host of compounds used commonly in consumer products, including food containers. Myers' concern was that inherent in the time lags is the disconnection between product use and the risk created. In 1928, no one linked CFCs and stratospheric ozone. In the 1930s, no one related the cranium size of babies born in the Great Lakes with PCBs. Though we know more about those compounds now, what don't we know about other compounds?
Myers pointed out that the Council has strived to address these problems and has identified several specific steps -- policies that encourage zero-emissions, extended product stewardship, and a shift toward leasing rather than simple sales of products containing complex chemicals. He stressed that, "better public understanding of risk will create market incentives that ultimately will change the making of things, creating immense business opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses that are prepared. Sustainable development of the fruits of modern chemistry can contribute to economic prosperity. Economic growth built upon unsustainable chemistry, on the other hand, is a mirage."
The Council asked Paul V. Tebo, Vice President of Safety, Health, and Environment of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, for a perspective from the business community. Tebo feels the Council's inclusive process to develop a vision, principles, and goals for a sustainable nation has set a very positive tone for future collaboration in this area. His first point was that, "a heroic goal of zero waste" is critical to a sustainable future. "Waste, in any form, is bad for business and bad for the environment." We should drive toward "zero defects," which have "improved product quality, lowered costs, delighted customers, increased shareholder value, and reduced wastes." Innovation and creativity can result in high value products derived from what we once called waste.
His second point stressed collaboration at all levels -- local, state, and national -- and he stated that those efforts should focus on all aspects of sustainability. "Collaboration recognizes each person brings a very important set of beliefs and strengths to the table. The power of working together versus at odds is incredible, and the key is to sit down together and identify common values and goals."
Finally, Tebo encouraged us to integrateeconomic, environmental, and social goals through broad education and practice of the concepts of sustainability and to develop a strong implementation strategy.
J. Gary Lawrence, Special Advisor to the Mayor of Seattle and Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities at the University of Washington, looked holistically at how the nation needs to "focus on where we are going rather than get specific on how we are going to get there." He believes the President must define our mission and goals toward sustainability and inspire us to achieve them. "Within the framework of sustainability, the President has the opportunity to answer questions central to our nation's confusion. He can tell us where we ought to be headed, what key things we should pay attention to if we want to know if we are making progress, and make clear his expectations for what we need to have accomplished and by when."
Lawrence feels strongly that our society is so consumed with "where we are" that we compromise what we could achieve in the future. Sustainability should be defined by a set of national objectives and must be the framework by which all of our programs are evaluated. Lawrence also pointed out that although sustainability is a new concept, "the diversity which exists throughout this country is the source of the creativity needed to attack this problem from every possible angle."
Finally, Lawrence stressed that, "Unless the path to sustainability improves people's lives and makes them happier, they won't choose the more sustainable path." Economic interests will need to see equal or better return on investment through sustainable business practices, environmental interests will need to see opportunities for ecosystems that preserve biodiversity, and our society will need to see a direct relationship between needed behavioral changes and an improved quality of life. In conclusion, Lawrence stated, "The focus of this quest for a more sustainable future must be a fuller, better life for each of us."
Patrick R. Ramage, Director of the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) U.S.A., said the President's Council on Sustainable Development "may emerge as the single most important initiative of the Clinton Administration in the enviro nmental area." Ramage commended the President's Council for being "one of a shrinking number of fora in which individuals and groups from different sectors of our society...can come together outside the compressed, partisan political setting that has frustrated even the most noble attempts to move American society toward a sustainable future."
GLOBE is a bipartisan group of 35 members of the U.S. House and Senate who work with their legislative and parliamentary colleagues around the world to learn about and address pressing environmental challenges.
Ramage recommended that the President's Council urge President Clinton to "develop and implement policies that meaningfully and positively engage the American business community in the cause of sustainable development," specifically stating that "if we fail to engage the vast technical, scientific, financial resources and creative energies of the corporate community in this cause, this vision of sustainable development will never be a reality."
Ramage stressed that the 1990s have shown that we have reached "the point of diminishing returns for 'top-down,' 'command-and-control' regulatory approaches." This country will not benefit from moderate adjustments to the current regulatory system. Rather, we need to move beyond the current political debate and look toward the future to "develop consensus-based recommendations that will enable us to say five, 10 or 50 years hence that this Council and its work gave America the first dim glimmers of poss ibility for a sustainable future."