Sustainable America in the Twenty-First Century: A Critique of President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development
![handle is hein.journals/jnatrenvl14 and id is 211 raw text is: SUSTAINABLE AMERICA IN THE TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY: A CRITIQUE OF PRESIDENT CLINTON'S
COUNCIL ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Kristina M. Tridico*
I. INTRODUCTION
By the end of 1961 Rachel Carson's Silent Spring inspired an
environmental consciousness that was the catalyst for reorienting
Americans to the way decisions are made.' By the end of 1987, Our
Common Future, the report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development (better known as the Brundtland Report) created a
dialogue of sustainable development.2 With the close of 1999, will the
reports of the President's Council on Sustainable Development now
build a framework for a new century?3
President Clinton realized that Americans embrace the Rachel
Carson vision when he proclaimed in his first inaugural address, Yes,
you, my fellow Americans have forced the spring.4 Perhaps with this
vision and the Brundtland Report's Call to Action5 as a catalyst,
J.D. 1999, University of Oregon School of Law. The author thanks Professor Robin
Morris Collin.
IRachel Carson's Silent Spring was arguably the most important single trigger of the
environmental great awakening, the scientific treatise that brought ecological consciousness into
the American mainstream. Zygmunt J.B. Plater, From the Beginning, A Fundamental Shift of
Paradigms: A Theory and Short History of Environmental Law, 27 LOY. L.A. L. REV. 981, 1002
n.80 (1994). See RACHEL CARSON, SILENT SPRING (1962).
2 WORLD COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, OUR COMMON
FUTURE (Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chair, 1987) [hereinafter WCED, OUR COMMON FUTURE].
3See generally, THE PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,
SUSTAINABLE AMERICA: A NEW CONSENSUS FOR PROSPERITY, OPPORTUNITY, AND A HEALTHY
ENVIRONMENT FOR THE FUTURE (1996) [hereinafter PCSD, SUSTAINABLE AMERICA]; THE
PRESIDENT'SCOUNCIL ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, BUILDING ONCONSENSUS: A PROGRESS
REPORT ON SUSTAINABLE AMERICA (1997) [hereinafter PCSD, BUILDING ON CONSENSUS]; THE
PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: A SNAPSHOT OF ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1997)
[hereinafter PCSD, SNAPSHOT]; THE PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE AMERICA: ADVANCING PROSPERITY, OPPORTUNITY, AND A HEALTHY
ENVIRONMENT FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY (1999) [hereinafter ADVANCING PROSPERITY).
4William J. Clinton, Inaugural Address of the United States President (Jan. 20, 1993).
5We have been careful to base our recommendations on the realities of present
institutions, on what can and must be accomplished today. But to keep options open for future
generations, the present generation must begin now, and begin together, nationally and](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jnatrenvl14&div=16&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Sustainable America in the Twenty-First Century: A Critique of President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development
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