245 



Ample evidence suggests that unless our nation acts decisively now, the 

 price will be serious — in some instances irreversible — environmental 

 harm. Undoubtedly, technology and manufacturing processes will 

 evolve over the next 50 years, in some cases outstripping our imagina- 

 tion. However, in view of the fact that the versatile but polluting com- 

 bustion engine is still with us, despite waves of technological innovation 

 over the past century and our growing knowledge of how to bring alter- 

 natives on line, it would be the height of folly for our nation to sit back 

 and simply hope that the future will be "greened" by an invisible hand. 

 The United States must take deliberate steps to shape the future now. 



Short-term needs are always more readily placed ahead of long- 

 term goaJs and personal desires ahead of societal ones. Excuses for inac- 

 tion — budget deficits, opposition to taxes, foreign competition — 

 abound. Yet the continuing pursuit of "politics as usual" will almost 

 certainly guarantee failure. 



As history teaches, the only defense against political inenia is lead- 

 ership, and in this regard environmental issues are no exception. The 

 American public must insist that its leaders understand the stark reali- 

 ties of the environmental challenge. Leaders in business, government, 

 labor, education, and the environmental community have to muster 

 the political will to bring the nation together to face its problems head- 

 on. Now more than ever, the American public has to become an 

 informed, concerned, and committed public that will demand such 

 leadership. 



The United Nations Conference on Environment and Develop- 

 ment, which met in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, was an important 

 beginning for the process of providing a new environmental agenda 

 based on the concept of sustainable development. The need now is to 

 translate that broad agenda into specific national aaion plans. Among 

 other things, this report and the recommendations within it contain 

 the ingredients of such a plan for the United States. 



The course we chart will not be easy. Periodic adjustments will 

 undoubtedly have to be made to minimize short-term economic and 

 other difficulties. But there must be an end to U.S. ambivalence about 

 the environment and a beginning of a steadfast commitment to 

 improving the environment both nationally and internationally. Thf 

 United States must have a long-term strategy for pursuing the goal of sus- 

 tainable development. Such a baJanced strategy should be able to antici- 



XIV OtcmSINT. A SiSTAINAMC FirftiM 



