Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9409010031
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CABELL BRAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sustainable development is a term that often provokes head-scratching and long silences when I mention it to my fellow Virginians. While the term may be unfamiliar, the concept is simple common sense. Sustainable development means providing for the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It means growing Virginia's economy, while at the same time protecting and restoring the environment and strengthening Virginia's communities as the foundations for the commonwealth's future prosperity.
The United States and more than 150 other nations signed onto this concept at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and in 1993 Virginia became the first state to adopt it as policy.
The 1994 Virginia General Assembly began to make this concept a reality by establishing a statewide legislative task force to study sustainable development. The task force is holding hearings around the commonwealth throughout this year. The task force is charged with the responsibility of developing a statewide strategic plan for sustainable development, and recommending actions for state and local governments, citizen groups and other organizations. It must complete its work in time to submit its findings to the governor and the 1995 General Assembly.
Fortunately, a lot of useful groundwork has already been done. First, there is the Blueprint for Sustainable Development of Virginia published this year by the nonpartisan Environmental Law Institute and directed by a steering committee of Virginia business, community, environmental and academic leaders. The blueprint identifies practical steps in eight areas - growth management, industrial development, pollution prevention, sustainable energy, air quality, historic sites and natural areas, water resources, and community development. The task force can use this and other studies as a basis for its plan to strengthen Virginia's economy while improving our communities, environment and quality of life for this and future generations.
Good ideas abound. In Southwest Virginia, the Clinch-Powell Sustainable Development Forum has just published recommendations for a strategic plan to revitalize the local rural economy without sacrificing the environment. In Albemarle County, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission has been working for several years to develop community-based consensus on what a "sustainable" Charlottesville area would look like. It is sponsoring a series of public meetings this summer to broaden this consensus.
The Nature Conservancy and the Northampton Economic Forum have begun to implement a plan for environmentally protective economic development on the Eastern Shore, and the Rappahannock Community Forum has begun to explore options for the lower Rappahannock, most recently with a "Community Forum II" held in late April.
In the Roanoke-Salem area, business leaders formed the New Century Council to work on long-term strategies for the Roanoke Valley. On the Roanoke College campus, the Alliance for Business and the Environment funds student fellowships to study these issues locally.
All of these efforts offer useful lessons for Virginia's new task force on sustainable development. First, they depend upon community vision. Second, they reject the false idea that jobs and the environment are opposing forces. Third, they take a long-term view rather than seeking short-term solutions.
Virginia's waters, fisheries, forests, minerals, agriculture and recreation lands are truly our "common wealth." Article XI of Virginia's Constitution requires us to find ways to develop and protect these resources so that they will sustain us for generations to come. It is time now for local political leaders and economic-development executives to work with state and federal agencies, academics and the environmental community to plan for job growth in Virginia that considers sustainable economic, environmental and human development.
Cabell Brand of Salem is president of Recovery Systems Inc. and founder of the Cabell Brand Center for International Poverty and Resource Studies.
Virginia Forum
by CNB