Organizing for sustainability

“Sustainability” is the new green buzzword – the rallying cry of a groundswell of people across the globe concerned about the viability of our planet, both in the near future and for generations to come. In 1987 a report from the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development defined a sustainable society as one that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Richard Heinberg, one of the world’s most renowned educators on Peak Oil (global oil depletion), is among a large group of scientists who believe that global oil production will peak by 2010, and that the natural gas supply is already in decline. This doesn’t mean that there will be no more oil – at least, not for awhile – but that oil producers will be unable to produce it at the current pace, due to both availability and the cost to retrieve it. With a growing world population, and increasing global demand for energy and the lifestyle it supports, it’s no surprise that sustainability is a word that so often punctuates conversation all over the world.

Governments at the local and national level are finally beginning to see the problem – that nonrenewable energy sources are running out, and that renewable energy sources are being consumed faster than they can be replenished. Many governments – though not all -are organizing to address the problem, recognizing that decisions they make affect the use of energy and natural resources. Some have established sustainability commissions to identify actions that can be taken and long-term plans that can be implemented to protect natural resources, energy supplies and even food supplies.

The Planning Commission of Montpelier, Vt. created a subgroup on energy and sustainability, that has established several goals to ensure the most efficient use of energy and natural resources, among them:

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