Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Brundtland Report 1987
Sustainable Actions Include All 3 Pillars
Temporal and Spatial Scope
Social contract with future generations
• Free Exchange of Goods or Services
• Predicated on buyers and sellers having sufficient info
• Efficient Exchange – All costs and benefits are internalized
• Social costs not included – Negative Externality
• Social benefits not included – Positive Externality
• Externalities can be internalized through Market Intervention
• Carbon Tax, Cap and Trade, Incentive Program
Economics of Sustainability
Environmental Concerns have shifted emphasis over the last 50 years.
Clear Air Act 1970 required regulation of “Criteria Pollutants”Particle pollutionGround-level ozoneCarbon monoxideSulfur oxidesNitrogen oxidesLead
2007 Supreme Court
Ruled the EPA would also regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
If it found the CO2 emissions endangered public health and welfare.
Climate Change Information
IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Naomi Oreskes - “How we know we're not wrong”
Colleges and Universities
Set Example - Green Campus Facilities and Operations Student engagement
Embed Sustainability concepts across the curriculum S Designated Courses Sustainability Program