By George Plumb

The terms “sustainable” or “sustainability” are often used now, as well they should be in these environmentally challenging times, but those terms are rarely defined by the users — never mind in a scientific way with meaningful parameters. Fortunately the Vermont legislature is considering a resolution that would do this. Part of this resolution is below and the whole resolution can be found on the Legislative web site at http://legislature.vermont.gov/

Consider urging your legislators to approve this non-binding but very important resolution.

Offered by: Representative McCormack of Burlington

“…Whereas, “sustainable,” as defined comprehensively, means that persons living in a politically or geographically defined area: (1) do not live beyond the limits of the local renewable resources for either input (energy and matter) or output (food, material goods, and absorption of pollution); (2) purchase or trade from environmentally conscious sources for those necessities that cannot be locally satisfied; and (3) live both in numbers and in a manner that allows present and future generations of all life in that area to exist in a healthy habitat, and …

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:

That the General Assembly urges all government agencies, enterprises, institutions of higher learning, and nongovernmental organizations in Vermont that have sustainability as part of their mission or programs to adopt this resolution’s definition of “sustainable” and to implement policies and actions to achieve true sustainability…”