The challenge of sustainability

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Phytopathology (An International Journal); (United States)

OSTI ID:6333473

Orr, D W

This paper discusses sustainability in a world that has changed rapidly. The author suggests that ecological assumptions embedded in communism and capitalism are badly flawed, but the flaws were not apparent when there were fewer than a billion people on earth living at low technology levels. Sustaining the earth's vital signs is a challenge to our perception of time, and the numbers - population, environmental damage, oil consumption, waste disposal - are too large to comprehend easily. There is a global debate about what sustainability means. In fact the challenge of sustainability is 6 different challenges: overcoming the tendency to deny inconvenient realities; establishing accurate indicators of human and ecological health; questions about the kinds of technology necessary to make the transition to sustainability; education; the need for an emotional bond between man and nature; rebuilding the existing democratic institutions. 16 refs.

• OSTI ID: 6333473
• Report Number(s): CONF-9208235--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Phytopathology (An International Journal); (United States) Journal Volume: 83:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
AESTHETICS
EDUCATION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HUMAN FACTORS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
MANAGEMENT
MUNICIPAL WASTES
PETROLEUM
POPULATIONS
PUBLIC OPINION
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES