Sustainability Principles and Practice Chapter 2 A Brief

Sustainability Principles and Practice Chapter 2 A Brief History of Sustainability © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Chapter Topics • • Recent history: the last 200 years Early conservation Transformation from conservation to ecology The beginnings of the environmental movement U. S. legislation in the 1970 s Environmental justice and the triple bottom line Expanding to a global scale Modern trends © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Recent history: the last 200 years • Malthus • Population growth and carrying capacity • Thoreau • Nature as interconnected community • Stewardship vs. consumption National Park Service • Marsh resource • Muir • National parks • Sierra Club John Muir in the Sierra Nevada © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Early conservation – early 20 th century • Lacey Act of 1900 Library of Congress • Response to birds killed for fashion • Early wildlife protection Millinery Trade Review, 1897 © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Early conservation • National Wildlife Refuges U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service • Theodore Roosevelt Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge © 2014 Margaret Robertson

• Early conservation Library of Congress Washington Dept. of Ecology • Nature as resource depot • Gifford Pinchot © 2014 Margaret Robertson

From conservation to ecology • Science of ecology • Relationships and connections • Food webs and trophic levels National Park Service • Humans not indispensable © 2014 Margaret Robertson

From conservation to ecology • Succession U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service • Changing plant communities Succession following a fire • Chaos and complexity theories • Unpredictability and uncertainty • Nature is not a machine © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Environmental movement – 1960 s and 1970 s • Silent Spring, 1962 U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service • Rachel Carson “Better living through chemistry” © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Environmental movement • The Population Bomb, 1968 • Paul Ehrlich UNEP/GRID-Arendal • Small Is Beautiful, 1973 • E. F. Schumacher Exponential growth made real © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Environmental movement • The first Earth Day: 1970 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) • 20 million participants nationwide Cuyahoga River on fire, 1952 © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Environmental movement • Arab oil embargo, 1970 • “Energy crisis” © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Environmental movement • Love Canal, 1978 Centers for Disease Control Environmental Protection Agency • Superfund, 1980 Love Canal cleanup Love Canal, a Superfund site © 2014 Margaret Robertson

U. S. legislation in the 1970 s • • • 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1970 Clean Air Act 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA) Multiple water, energy, and pesticide regulations 1977 Clean Water Act © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Environmental justice • United Farm Workers organized, 1962 • Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta Drawings by 4 -year-olds Child from pesticide-free zone Child from farm area with heavy pesticide use Drawings by 5 -year-olds Child from pesticide-free zone Child from farm area with heavy pesticide use © 2014 Margaret Robertson National Institutes of Health Credit: Elizabeth A. Guillette 1990 Drawings of a person by children in Yaqui Valley, Mexico

Environmental justice movement begins • 1982, PCB landfill proposed • African American neighborhood • Warren County, North Carolina Photo courtesy of Robert Bullard, Environmental Justice Resource Center • Protests and marches • 1987, report by Ben Chavis Library of Congress • “environmental racism” Birmingham, AL Warren County, NC © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Expanding to a global scale © 2014 Margaret Robertson

• 1968 Apollo 8 moon orbit © 2014 Margaret Robertson Manned Spacecraft Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • “Earthrise” © 2014 Margaret Robertson

• 1972 Apollo 17 lunar landing National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • “Blue Marble” © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Expanding to a global scale • 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment • Stockholm, Sweden • “Think globally, act locally” • René Dubos, from report Only One Earth • UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established NASA • Importance of triple bottom line © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Expanding to a global scale • 1983, UN – World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) • Chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland • 1987 report, Our Common Future • a. k. a. the Brundtland report Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ” WCED. Our Common Future, 1987. © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Expanding to a global scale • 1987, Montreal Protocol NASA • Global response to thinning of ozone layer • Phased out production of CFCs “Ozone hole” over Antarctica © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Expanding to a global scale • 1992 Earth Summit • UN Conference on Environment and Development • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil • Agenda 21 adopted • UN Convention on Biological Diversity adopted • UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted Kyoto Protocol © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Expanding to a global scale • 2001, UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment • 2002, UN World Summit on Sustainable Development • a. k. a. Earth Summit 2002 • Johannesburg, South Africa • Millennium Development Goals adopted © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Modern trends • Bioregionalism • Closed-loop processes Raw materials Disposal • Cradle to cradle • Green building • Sustainability in education Use Production • Measurement • Ecological Footprint • Life cycle assessment Distribution © 2014 Margaret Robertson

Chapter Summary • • Recent history: the last 200 years Early conservation Transformation from conservation to ecology The beginnings of the environmental movement U. S. legislation in the 1970 s Environmental justice and the triple bottom line Expanding to a global scale Modern trends © 2014 Margaret Robertson