by Erica Gies
(© 2001. No portion of this essay, text or image, may be reproduced without author's consent.)

Abstract:

American consumption patterns are quickly exhausting non-renewable resources, threatening biodiversity, polluting the environment, and creating unsustainable (and unlivable) cities. In the Bay Area, we are lucky to have both a political and a physical environment that encourages people to think of themselves as responsible members of their ecosystem. This essay provides details from three recent proposals—from the Department of the Environment, the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development, and Urban Ecology—that provide specific recommendations as to how we can continue to build a sustainable Bay Area. The subjects of the recommendations range from efficient transportation, to environmental justice, to clean industry, to organic farming. We will need to take these issues seriously if we are to leave future generations an inhabitable world.