Mythbusters Bust This: Environmental Sustainability and Global Warming

To say that environmental sustainability is a myth is submitting to defeatism. Rather, we should recognize the issues holding back the implementation of sustainability and consider what we can do about it. But before we get into all that, we must define sustainability and why it's so important in today's world of dwindling energy supplies and global warming.

The term "sustainability" refers to practices that result in a proper balance between human activity and the environment. Sustainable living, therefore, must begin with changes in attitude toward a more eco-aware mindset. America's modern-day economic model of excess consumption must be replaced with an economy based on investment in green employment, goods, and services. This economic shift is precisely why going green is harder in America than virtually any other country since two-thirds of the U.S. economy is comprised of excess consumer spending and the quest for material wealth.

In other countries, sustainability is somewhat easier to implement since many citizens are not necessarily bound by the perennial lure of material wealth to the extent we see here in America. Though they may still have issues to work through, e.g., the clear-cutting of forests, they are generally more accepting of the change toward a more eco-friendly mindset given the proper education. Furthermore, rural peoples may be grateful for receiving solar power where they had no electricity prior; or learning how to farm while maintaining the nutritional integrity of the topsoil.

Politics is another impediment to implementing sustainable practices, and nowhere is this more pronounced than here in America. Representatives in Congress who cater to the wishes of their constituents, particularly those doing business in coal- and oil-producing states, have a tendency to deny global warming and other issues related to the environment. Energy company lobbyists pressure Congressional representatives in order to buy access to power, which adds a further layer of difficulty in tackling environmental issues. At no time was this more evident than when on July 28, 2003, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) stood on the Senate floor and declared that global warming is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."

Thankfully, attitudes are beginning to change toward a more eco-aware paradigm. And the more we see food and gas prices rising, energy supplies dwindling, and global warming changing local and global weather patterns, the more people will be willing to accept this new reality and make a necessary change in their attitude toward the environment. In turn, this will make sustainability a probability rather than just mere wishful thinking.