Sustainable Land Development Today - January 2009 - (Page 12)

hole, Volker said a new fiscal stimulus is needed: one that will grow the economy in a sustainable manner, with less emphasis on consumer spending and more emphasis on long-term, wide-ranging, job-producing investments such as infrastructure programs. Public infrastructure is in disrepair, and private infrastructure is predominantly unsustainable. The nation’s schools, hospitals, roads/bridges/mass transit systems/air travel system and even our electric grid are inadequate to meet the nation’s current requirements, let alone the requirements of an expanding, vibrant, dynamic, 21st century economy. It’s very hard to grow at capacity if your infrastructure isn’t up to standards. Providing incentives to economic activity that enhances our basic quality of life and minimizes our environmental impact will reduce our long-term costs and increase our profits in a sustainable way. From the government’s perspective, increased revenues associated with sustainable, long-term economic development will more than offset the temporary reduced revenues the incentives might bring. The goal of the next recovery program must not be to recreate the pattern of more short-term consumer-oriented stimulus, but to steer the economy onto a more sustainable growth path. Future economic growth must be driven by investment in the infrastructure – public and private – that leads to the creation of good jobs and rising wages. tend the opposite, seeing in it a time of unprecedented opportunity. Historically, willingness to protect the environment has been wedded to prosperity. When times get tough, people’s eagerness to switch to renewable energy, buy a more fuel-efficient car or promote forest conservation melts quickly. In the 1980s, a fall in the price of crude oil ended the first dawn of green energy, as the big economies, led by the United technologies; greater efficiency of energy, water, and raw material use; altered lifestyle and consumption choices; economic restructuring; and environmental restoration efforts. It also requires adaptation to those changes that now seem inevitable and perhaps irreversible. Some of the issues that will need to be resolved include a current lack of rules and standards, and the fact that environmental costs are too often externalized, making it harder for green enterprises to “ it’s time for a bailout for the environment: one that creates jobs, is global in scope, and can help rebuild communities amidst the ashes of the current economic crisis. compete. Integrating social and environmental aspects into the cost of doing business and undertaking large-scale public and private sector investments will be key to realizing the massive potential that green jobs hold. Government targets, mandates, business incentives, and reformed tax and subsidy policies must promote sustainable land development in order for the green labor market to take off. There’s a growing push in Washington D.C. for a green economic-stimulus package and leaders of major environmental and business groups have stressed the importance of connecting the dots between energy, the environment, and the economy. All stakeholders agree that the key to passing new U.S. energy and environmental legislation will be using it to spur economic growth — through building efficiency, mass transit, and infrastructure development. States, returned to their dependence on oil. But this time conventional wisdom is flawed in many ways, sometimes unexpectedly so. For instance, a worsening economy causes less greenhouse-gas emissions in the short term, as it lowers consumption of dirty coal, oil and gas by factories, homes, planes and cars. ” Bail Out the Environment and Create Jobs In the face of the twin challenges of stagnating economies and environmental degradation, stimulating green industry is more important than ever, according to a new assessment released by the Worldwatch Institute.1 The conclusion - it’s time for a bailout for the environment: one that creates jobs, is global in scope, and can help rebuild communities amidst the ashes of the current economic crisis. Green jobs are not only about renewable energy employment. All kinds of land development including residential and commercial buildings, transportation systems, agriculture, forestry and basic industry have the potential to create jobs that help reduce humanity’s footprint and protect the environment. This approach prioritizes the development of more environmentally benign Planet: The “Land” in Land Development There is world-wide consensus, as evident by the results of a recent United Nations’ Environment Programmesponsored meeting, that the fragmented international response to meet the continual decline for the world’s natural resources is not resulting in a significant improvement. At first glance, the current economic crisis may appear to be a setback for environmental responsibility, but many in and around the green movement con- Financial Solutions Must be Ecologically Sound Europe’s largest federation of environmental organizations urge the inclusion of ecological criteria in any package designed to help bail the world out of the current global financial crisis. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has prepared a letter addressed to heads of 12 January 2009 Sustainable Land Development Today

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Sustainable Land Development Today - January 2009 Contents Our Voice Your Voice The BottomLine SLDI in Focus Calendar Industry Rebound Will Require Balanced Approach What Happened to Fannie and Freddie? Added Value in Entitlements Industry Spotlights Technology Wastewater Innovation Classifieds Advertiser Index Editorial Board SLDT Resources Last Word

Sustainable Land Development Today - January 2009

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