by Martin Zehr

Created on: February 29, 2008

Sustainability is a requirement of defining economic development regionally and nationally in the context of defined parameters for growth. It goes beyond the individual or personal level. To accomplish it policies need to be established at the Federal, state and local levels that facilitate a smooth transition. Issues regarding public infrastructure, such as transportation systems, water management, agrarian reform, and energy production cannot be phased in by consumer choices.

Bioregionalism is a concept that seeks to make sustainability a focus of local political activity. It addresses the concepts of an ecological democracy in which stakeholders have an open and equitable input in the decisions that impact on them. Adaptive governance has been used in many aspects of land and water management already. Our political institutions lag behind our recognition of the requirements for the technical expertise and the experience of those in the region that will clarify the impact of decisions on the local populations.

Individual decisions do not redefine the capacity of our institutions to address the fundamental questions of sustainability. Currently, mayors and governors have initiated actions in addressing climate change. The impact of these actions are profoundly limited by the constraints imposed on them. Right now California is involved in litigation with the Federal government. They are being told that they cannot establish more rigorous standards for pollution control in automobiles. They will continue to go head-to-head in endless and fruitless disputations. We will continue to have certain interests exercising a disproportional influence in the decisions that are being made. Structural reform would provide new mechanisms for governing that would be less subject to these influences.

Individuals can take the bus; they can use energy saving light bulbs; and they can recycle to increase the reuse of waste. But they cannot establish by themselves the means to establish sustainability. This is simply beyond their capacity to influence significantly. Support systems, tax incentives, transitional models, and encouragement for research and development come from government at the Federal, state and local levels. Water administration and management policies are implemented by political action of state legislatures and Congress. Sustainability is inherently tied to the bioregions in order to address issues in the watersheds that vary significantly from location to location.

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