Sustainable development: A HUD perspective

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:426195

Goldfarb, E

Sustainable development is the current term now being used to describe the environmental movement. The term`s popularity can be traced to publication of Our Common Future, the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission). Sustainable development means exactly what is implied; development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Commission). It is another way of conveying the basic premise of {open_quotes}Spaceship Earth{close_quotes}; that our species has been given this planet to live on and we must carefully balance resource utilization if we want to endure more than a few generations, because this is all we`ve got. It is a natural evolution of the conservation and environmental movements into a format that recognizes that environmental issues cannot be viewed in isolation, but must be evaluated in a context of economic development (Powledge). Sustainable development is thus a broad term that encompasses many elements, depending upon the context. Such elements can include: 1 energy, 2 economic development, 3 pollution prevention, 4 biodiversity, 5 historic preservation, 6 social equity, and 7 recycling and solid waste disposal. One of the cornerstones of sustainable development is energy policy, since energy use is perhaps the most defining element of contemporary civilization. In the energy discipline, sustainability can best be paraphrased as living off one`s income as opposed to depleting ones capital. In other words, using solar, wind and other renewables rather than fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are limited and will eventually be depleted, therefore they cannot be considered sustainable. Another element embraced by sustainable development is biodiversity. The biodiversity movement is most sharply distinguished from traditional conservationism for its commitment to the principle of preserving and managing entire ecosystems.

• Research Organization: Illinois Univ., Chicago, IL (United States). Energy Resources Center
• OSTI ID: 426195
• Report Number(s): DOE/CH/10623--1; CONF-9411261--; ON: DE96001827
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SPECIES DIVERSITY
URBAN AREAS