3-11: Sustainable Development

Importance of this Unit to the Course

We have seen in previous units on population, energy consumption, and the carbon cycle that our current rate of total global energy consumption cannot be sustained without significant changes to our global environment. So what needs to be done to develop policies and practices of energy and material use that are sustainable?

Objectives

To understand the concept of sustainable development.
To review the challenge of moving toward sustainable development in industrial and developing nations.

Preparation for Discussion (You must complete this section before class.)

Read the summary information. (Print text for offline review.)

Take the Quiz over the summary information. (see your portfolio)

Review additional reading material (this material is not covered in the quiz, but offers more ideas for online discussion)

Discussion (online / face-to-face) (See your portfolio for due dates and times)

A major component of the course is participation in the online dialog. The following types of comments are required:

Social Comments
Knowledge-building Comments
Ethical Comments

The following may be used as discussion starters for the online dialog:

Unit Problem to Ponder:

Depletion of global supplies of fossil fuels is not condemned by the philosophy of the Presidents Council on Sustainability, Why not?
Unit exam questions from previous years
Unit discussions from previous years, available from the current online discussion page

Additional Reading