Trust The Leaders

Issue 22 / Summer 2008

• Sustainability? The most well-known definition of the term came out of the Brundtland Commission, led by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. In 1987, the Commission defined sustainable development as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainability is a discussion of how to make human economic systems last longer and have less impact on ecological systems, particularly relating to major global problems such as climate change and oil depletion.
• Compliance: The Original Sustainability Throughout this country’s relatively short history of regulating the environment, most of the major programs have focused on a model of forced compliance to achieve the desired goal: a cleaner environment. Over the years, as our natural resources have continued their inevitable slide toward exhaustion, federally and locally mandated compliance programs have begun the logical shift toward the notion of sustainability.
• Wind Energy In parts of the central United States, far from the population centers of the Eastern and Western seaboards, certain “winds of change” have been blowing for a quarter-century. What was little more than a whisper in the early 1980s has become a brisk breeze. Wind energy became the nation’s fastest-growing energy source in the 1990s, driven by technological improvements, favorable economics and public demand, particularly on the West Coast. The remarkable growth of wind energy production continues at an accelerated pace today.
• Corporate Sustainability and the Marketplace: Changing the Bottom Line The market has changed, turning the traditional business model on its head. Whether due to increasing knowledge of the economic costs of environmental degradation, rising oil and food costs, or simple greenwashing, businesses around the world are reacting to customers and shareholders who are becoming more informed and more vocal in insisting upon corporate sustainability.
• Florida’s Green Ink Budget “The trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” American author Erica Jong was expressing her concern that something you love is worth fighting for because, without a fight, you may lose it.
• A Greenprint for Sustainable Development The newspapers are full of stories about harsh weather and climate change. If there is anything positive about the earth’s climate changes, it is our reinvigorated environmental consciousness. Environmental concerns are no longer a fringe issue; they are front and center. As a result, green building and sustainable development are receiving substantial media attention.
• Intellectual Property Essentials for Green Entrepreneurs The current prominence of the sustainability movement has long been recognized by entrepreneurs. The broad definition of sustainability carries within it the question of “How can we do this better?” with the emphasis on leaving for the future the resources to which future generations are entitled.
• Woodruff Arts Center Plants Its Roof The Woodruff Arts Center sits in the heart of midtown Atlanta and is surrounded by high rises, whichsoon will include Trump Towers. To those who work in the area, the Arts Center, which is state-of-the-art from the ground level, isn’t quite as pleasant when viewed from higher elevations.