Overview

The world community faces unprecedented ecological challenges in the 21st century, including climate change, resource scarcity, and threats to biodiversity. Many political and business leaders have embraced the idea of sustainable development, calling for economic development without depleting the natural capital on which future generations depend. A critical task in coming decades for government policymakers, civil society organizations, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurial innovators will be to find ways to meet simultaneously both economic and environmental goals.

Growing public concern about sustainability has prompted political, corporate, and civil society leaders to become increasingly responsive to environmental issues. In the United States and other nations, government policymakers have moved toward greater reliance on economic incentives, rather than command and control regulations, to achieve environmental goals. At the same time, many businesses have become increasingly proactive and have pioneered new approaches to effective sustainability management, sometimes in partnership with advocacy organizations. These actions have often given firms a competitive advantage by cutting costs, gaining public support, and spurring.

Class Discussion:

Since land values are often lower in predominantly minority communities, environmental racism may be the indirect result of decisions to site waste facilities on inexpensive land.

Can a company's decision to site a waste facility in a predominantly minority community be considered racism if the primary motivation was economic?