National Strategy for Sustainability - Ideas for Change in America

What do you think is the most effective way to turn this idea into real policy? Add your suggestions here for how you think we should run an advocacy campaign to advance the idea – including the overall strategy, messaging, targets, and tactics.

Approach this from the standpoint that people reading this forum already agree with you on the importance of the issue, and are asking "What can we do to help make this a reality?"

You can also comment on and rank the suggestions submitted by others.

IN the interest of sustainability, no program would be complete or meaningfully effective without population control and recycling. Therefore once again I emphasize that we expand recycling technologies to 1) provide a source of 'raw' materials for manufacturing and construction, 2) save landfills and energy used to make packaging, 3) provide jobs for people on all skill levels thereby increasing social stability. I think there is a need to provide our engineers with jobs to create new more easily recycled materials and methods to recycle all the packaging materials we currently use and throw away.

There is also a need for jobs for people who don't have the resources for a college degree, and there are potentially so many levels of skill needed in the recycling process and all levels of skill are needed. Not everyone has the intellectual capability for college, many have had children before they completed their education. Long term job instability correlates with incidents of depression and family relationship problems, thus leaving many families too proccupied to be able to recycle or buy compact flourescent bulbs, let alone be able to appreciate the reasons why. Steady jobs make for stable families, and stable families are much more likely to contribute to the collective cause of sustainability.

So to expand recycling to the point where EVERYTHING is recyclable would have to be a part of any policy or program aimed at sustainability both in terms of natural resources and in terms of social welfare.

While I"m on a tangent of sustainability, the concept of intelligent planning is another area we should be looking into more with a sustainability program. This concept includes neighborhood gardens, neighborhood schools where children walk to school and go to the same school as their neighbors, having grocery stores within walking distance, improving our public transportations, etc. The idea is to have a layout that reduces use of fuels and encourages environmentally friendly behaviors.

Recycling and wise city planning are but two pieces of sustainability but integral parts of a holistic plan.

Suggested by Monica Birsen on 01/20/2009 @ 04:07PM PT
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Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, author of Plan B 3.0, has an incredibly detailed knowledge of the complexity of the actions we need to take immediately to avert the worst of the climate catastrophe. He should be tapped by the White House to play a major role in planning our strategy.

Suggested by susan righi on 01/20/2009 @ 01:13PM PT
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Sustainable Land Development: Building a Bridge to a New Global Culture
http://www.sldtonline.com/content/view/580/1/

True Sustainability Will Require Balanced Approach

Crisis can bring clarity of purpose.

The cascading effect of the financial crisis that is rocking the world provides us with a tremendous opportunity to hammer home the fact that true sustainability—balancing the needs of people with those of the environment and financial success—is the global solution to the problems we face.

This published article focuses on each of those three areas—people, planet and profit—as they relate to the events that captivate our world today. Within each area, you will see the tendrils that bind them all together... http://www.sldtonline.com/content/view/584/1/

Suggested by Terry Mock on 01/20/2009 @ 07:24AM PT
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The roadmap for a sustainable future MUST include a plan for reducing our dependence on animal products. A UN report released in 2006 determined that raising animals for food generates about 40% more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, ships and planes in the world combined.

And Worldwatch Institute reports that meat consumption is the "driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening our future."

The meat and dairy-centered Standard American Diet (SAD) takes a huge toll on environmental resources and fosters world hunger. It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat. We feed 540 million tons of grain to our livestock every year while the UN reports that the amount needed to end extreme hunger is only 40 million tons. It's simply more efficient to feed people directly, rather than devoting resources to fattening animals.

The SAD diet also causes extreme animal suffering and cruelty. One example is the link between dairy products and the veal industry. Even on small and organic farms, male calves are typically considered unwanted "byproducts" and are sold to veal producers. I've seen heartbreaking footage of frightened, wobbly-kneed calves (some with umbilical cords still attached) dragged across the auction floor. Once sold, they spend the rest of their lives chained to tiny crates, unable to move and fed a nutritionally-deficient diet designed to impede muscle development so that their flesh retains the baby-like tenderness preferred by "gourmets."

Most consumes don't realize that by buying dairy products, we are paying for this cruelty to continue.

Human health suffers, too. Studies have shown that people who consume the most animal products also suffer the highest incidents of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Some complain that a livestock tax has the potential to raise prices on animal foods. However, the prices of products ought to accurately reflect the cost of their production. For decades, the Meat and Dairy Lobby has secured massive government subsidies which artificially lower the price of meat and dairy, making vegetables, grains and fruit appear expensive by comparison. In reality, animal foods are far more costly to produce, and the prices should reflect that.

It's time we recognized the true costs of our animal-laden diet and its impact on the environment, human health, world hunger and animal suffering.

Suggested by Jo Tyler on 01/20/2009 @ 03:55AM PT
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A sustainable world is one where people are directly connected to their food. An Agricultural program that puts food local, visible and integrated with the environment is pivotal to a "sustainable economy." This means stopping programs such inhibit such farms, and promoting programs such as those funded by SARE and ATTRA, which enhance possibilities for sustainable farmers.We also need to integrate education with agriculture so that we can return to a nation that promotes patience and humanity over violence and speed.

Suggested by Patricia Stewart on 01/20/2009 @ 03:53AM PT
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Recycling programs are suffering all over the country due to reduced markets and reduced prices for recyclable. Much of the main manufacturing facilities using many types of recyclable materials are in other countries (especially Asia) or far away. High transportation cost and low prices for recyclables is endangering many local recycling programs. There needs to be support to implement recyling plant technology using known existing technology in all regions that have sufficient volume for various materials such as plastics, cans, paper, organics, etc. This can provide permanent jobs and increase economic development in many areas, and utilize waste materials while conserving lots of energy. We can't afford the major reductions in recyling that is in the process of occurring unless we do more to help in developing manufacturing/recyling facilities in areas with a lot of such materials. Incentives for companies with recycling technology to expand into other areas can have a huge economic development payback. And result in huge resource and energy conservation paybacks as well.

Suggested by bernie windham on 01/19/2009 @ 05:01PM PT
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What would stimulate the U.S. economy?

NATIONAL EMERGENCY, *PAY ATTENTION*

If all the "BUY"/ "BAIL"OUTS for U.S. banks and auto makers
were "strictly" prohibited by the full, authentic power of the American People's will, - in action, - .. then the U.S. Government could easily bail out every American home owner instead.

All U.S. home owners could get up to $500,000.00 each, - paid directly towads their mortgage.

Even $250,000.00 would serve as a national median bench mark.
Giving that money directly to the mortgage company, (usually a bank) for "ALL" home owners currenty living in their residential homes and not for rental properties, beach houses, etc.... The U.S. Government could still (very easily), have everyone who wants and NEEDS the assistance, fill out a simple application with their current mortgage balance owed, etc. etc.... Then cut the checks out to their mortgage company; (in care of the home owner), - forbidding the home owner from selling or refinancing their home within the first 5 years of the closing date, (via the government buy out).. and with "zero" exceptions to that 5 year rule.... Unless fraud becomes an issue.
Like a temporary reverse mortgage,...
Not only for the elderly, but for an entire generation of U.S. Citizens who've been blatantly ripped-off by none other than their own pre-successors via the Generation Gap.... This would relieve every American of their mortgage. In turn, more Americans would go out more often and maybe they'd even purchase a new car in the entire process, which would most likely require getting financed; further compelling almost every U.S. citizen, as well as every foreign investor, to purchase many of the greatest assetts ever sold in the World, - the same solid assetts which can only be accquired in the privately (aka) personally controlled sector of a free market economy.
In other words: "A True American Capitalist Economy."
This would yield far greater sums of money back to all of the U.S. auto makers and banks,.. as well as the U.S. Government, (via low income taxes for every 'registered' U.S. Citizen). It would also encorage more gross domestic production (jobs), along with the need for more American Workers, - required to meet the needs of more new employers; and in duration with the guaranteed rise in new consumer demand. The U.S. Government could also see that the Federal Reserve Banking Cartel continues to keep its interest rates at zero percent, (so the Federal Government can continue paying them back); otherwise, all Federal Reserve Banks will be abolished from every sovereign nook and cranny of the United States, (without any questions or implications) .... No exceptions! A viable breach in contract (on behalf of either party) would not even reach the point of an arbitrary hearing. The Federal Reserve would be abolished... Indefintely! "If you want peace, prepare for war."
Minimum wage could finally be raised to 16 dollars per hour, (without detriment to any employer), - even if only to suffice for the national median threshold, by allowing every American to meet the current costs of living (equally & head- on), rather than being stabbed repeatedly in the forehead by the broken end of a 'notorious' generation demographic stick.

This would reverse every down-hill financial situation in this country, as well as pay off our own National Debt (completely).. all-the-while; the United States would accquire a massive National Surplus, which would spare all future generations of U.S. Citizens from inheriting yet another 'untameable' burden of National Debt; hand-in-hand with all of the other absolutely unnecessary and illegal methods of taxation, - imposed upon them by such debt, - generated by every new generation, - then passed onto the next generation; and only for the former generation's own social-financial welfare.
If the U.S. Government continues to be held fully accountable, by the will and actions of the American People, and by all the laws of nature; (i.e. KARMA),.. and if the U.S. Government, (especially the Obama Administration) would only choose to resolve this "Bail"/ "Buy Out" issue with the American People,.. then America's Free Market "Capitalist" Economy would thrive in no time.... Overnight, - Guaranteed!
The United States of America would outpace every other country around the entire World.

Here; You do the math:
304 million "registered" U.S. Citizens...
Divide 700 Billion Dollars of your own tax money; (equal distribution).
How much money does the U.S. Government want to give to you?
Afterall, You're eventually going to pay for it; right?
Here's an ironic example:

"You've got two choices here"........
#1. "You."
or...
#2. "The Federal Bankers and a bunch of Drooling Politicians."

- The cost and the profit then becomes realized.

Ryan Buckner (State of Washington)

Suggested by Ryan Buckner on 01/19/2009 @ 04:59PM PT
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Artists and engineers, yes! Designers too.

Design is NOT a luxury service. It can address the critical issues that we all face. Green design is leading the way and a good start, but sustainability does not only concern the environment. To be sustainable, communities face a range of challenges: social, economic, and environmental. Look at Detroit.

Design can play a positive role in all of these. How? Communities should be involved in the decions that shape their lives. Shaping their own built environment can help communities recover from disaters and face the day-to-day challenges such as health care, child care, education, job training, affordable housing, and accessible housing. Even nutrition is a design issue, addressed through planning for local green gardens. There are good examples of all of these that have created measurable changes.

The positive impact of design needs to be considered and included in any sustainability strategy.

Suggested by bryan bell on 01/19/2009 @ 12:55PM PT
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What's getting lost in the debate is the virtue of small scale appropriate technology that E.F.Schumaker advocated along with his concept of "Buddhist Economics". Amory Lovins should be appointed "energy Zar". He's done more for America as an energy consultant than anyone or any policy so far.Cooke Fisheryoga teacher

Suggested by cooke fisher on 01/18/2009 @ 09:45PM PT
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Along with regions becoming more resource independent(i.e. creates food, energy),and conservative(i.e. protects and makes efficient), and regenerative(i.e. green bio-remediation techniques and technologies), we may also elect to utilize Fair Trade for any products created outside of our region in order to assure social justice along with economical and ecological sustainability. This is the circle of symbiosis that strengthens communities and builds world peace through a balancing biosphere.

Suggested by dan dawson on 01/18/2009 @ 08:18PM PT
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