Tonight at Southdale Library

I'll be at Edina's Southdale Library (70th St. and York Ave) to discuss Sustainable Development tonight at 7 pm.  Swing by if you have the chance.

EPA Green Book, Part 3

[In this series I examine in depth the Green Book Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, commissioned by the EPA from a committee of the National Academy of Sciences.]

If you, Dear Reader, undertake any part of the Green Book itself, you should, of course, read the Summary.  In six pages it helpfully explains, in fairly clear bureaucrat/scientist language, what the book is about and what role the Academy urges for "sustainability" at the EPA.

The Academy claims that the exercise was not to "address laws pertaining to the EPA" (p. 3).  However, the next sentence reads as follows,

"The committee did, however, examine the benefits, where EPA has statutory and discretion in regulatory and nonregulatory programs, of building sustainability into its administration of these statutes."

But, please, you are not supposed to misinterpret that clear sentence as any sort of "power grab." 

"Sustainability," you see, "is our true north," as the Green Book quotes an agency official.  The committee merely wishes to help EPA "institutionalize sustainability" (p. 2).

You may be tempted to think of "sustainability" as ensuring that future human generations have a quality environment to sustain life.  Or, perhaps, you just associate the idea with the fight against global warming.  It is so much broader than that, according to the committee (p. 2), as it will help tackle "the complex problems,"

"including population growth, the widening gaps between the rich and the poor, depletion of finite natural resources, biodiversity loss, climate change, and the disruption of nutrient cycles."

Keep in mind that--although the word "sustainable" does appear in EPA's mission statement--the words "population," "rich," and "poor" do not.

The Academy urges the EPA to engage with a wide range of stakeholders (p. 5) including the following,

"state regulators, local officials, industry, academia, community and advocacy groups, and the international community."  Voters, citizens, Congress, (or any elected official), business, and the media, need not apply. 

EPA's Green Book, Part 2

[In part 2 of this series, I review the beginning of Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, a book written by the prestigious National Academy of Sciences for the EPA.  In this "Green Book" the Academy makes the case that the EPA has the authority to regulate any and all activity, in the name of achieving "sustainability."]

The Green Book includes two Minnesota connections:  the Committee credited with writing the book includes Dr. Stephan Polasky of the University of Minnesota and the Committee thanks Deborah Swackhamer of the U for making a presentation to the committee.

The preface to the Green Book covers about a page and a half (pages vii and viii).  In the preface's first paragraph alone, the authors use the word "sustainability" nine times without bothering to define the word anywhere in the preface.  Since the Academy is urging that most human activity be regulated by the EPA using this single word, it would help us to know what the authors mean by it.

The EPA itself provides little help.  On its website, the Agency defines "sustainability" as follows,

"Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment."

This feel-good vagueness is of little help in understanding whether the Agency will allow you to build a shopping center or drill for natural gas.

Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, Part 1

In this new year, I will be starting a new series on this site, posting about this book, Sustainability and the U.S. EPA.  Because the printed version has a green cover, it is known informally as the the "EPA Green Book."

Published last year (2011) by the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, it promises to lay the foundation for a complete reworking of the EPA's mission by placing "sustainability" at the center of everything the agency does.

Stay tuned...