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<br />000793'
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<br />II
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<br />Many involved in the Congressional debate
<br />expressed appreciation that EESI was able '
<br />to pull together reliable and understand-
<br />able experts.
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<br />Sust<lin<lble Development
<br />
<br />E ESI's cross-cutting project, "Sus-
<br />tainability Begins At Home," seeks a
<br />'better understanding of activities
<br />which might lie economically, as well as en-
<br />vironmentally, sustainable within'the
<br />United States. We conlinued to see that our
<br />core programs are in line with the sus-'
<br />tainability concept. '
<br />
<br />" .
<br />EESI's consultant, Nancy Mathews, set up a
<br />task force made up of a'very unlikely and
<br />diverSe group of people, organized a series
<br />of three workshops and published a report.
<br />Participants in the task force included two
<br />venture capitalists, the vice president for en-
<br />vironment at a major chemical company, a
<br />, Jesuit priest, the head of a neighborhood
<br />teclmology group in'Chicago and the direc-,
<br />tor of a rural sustainability,organization in
<br />Arkansas. EESI directOls also took part, in-
<br />cluding Roger Sant (who chaired), Les
<br />Brown, Dick Ottinger and Gus Speth.
<br />
<br />The three workshops - on local and'state
<br />initiatives, sustaina!Jle transportation and
<br />sustainable housing ~ gathered similarly ,
<br />diverse groups of participants.
<br />
<br />The task force and .wo~kshops helped us to
<br />, begin addreSs'ing sustainability in a domes-
<br />tic context. We-started with the definition '
<br />. developed by the United Nations Commis-
<br />sion on Environment and Development,
<br />"meeting the needs of the present without
<br />coinpromising the ability of future genera-
<br />\ions to meet their own needs." More effi-
<br />cient resource use and pollution prevention
<br />a~ essential to any long-term sustainability
<br />- in the United States as well as around
<br />the world. In many instances, environmen-
<br />tally sustaini'ble activities can meet eco-
<br />nomic and social needs simultaneously.
<br />EESI is seeking opportunities to meet multi-
<br />ple ~jectives in its search for~nvironmen-
<br />tally benign, resource-efficient options to
<br />present to policymakers. '
<br />
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<br />
<br />W<lste M<ln<lgement
<br />
<br />E afly in the year, the Waste Manage-
<br />" ment Program issued two major re-
<br />ports, one summarizing aU the legis-
<br />lative initiatives on solid waste issues
<br />during the 1st Session of the LOIst Con- '
<br />gress, and the other providing background
<br />on the issues. The reports culminated a
<br />year and a half of educational programs, in-
<br />cluding briefings aJid field trips designed
<br />to generate a better CongreSsional under- '
<br />standing of what had been a "non-issue','
<br />untifthe televised odyssey of !'he "garbage'
<br />barge:" '
<br />
<br />The 101st Congr<ss paid a good deal of at-
<br />tention to a variety of solid and hazardous
<br />waste issues, and several bills were enacted
<br />to addrl'Ss specific p,oblems, such as' waste
<br />backhauling and 'reduCing the generation of
<br />was,te. EESI's Program Director, Patricia
<br />Raymond, was involved in all these ini9a-
<br />tives. Many of the concepts considered in
<br />hearings and legislative propos~ls derived
<br />from her educational activities, and many
<br />are likely to make their way into revisions
<br />of the Resource COr\.servation and Recovery
<br />Act during 1991-92. With Congress primed
<br />to move on its own, and with Pat having
<br />decided to ~turn to her'native Pennsylva-
<br />nia to work for the state energy office, we
<br />put the program on hold.
<br />
<br />EARTHTECH 90
<br />
<br />, In anticipation of 20th anniversar,Y cele-
<br />bration of Earth Day, EESI orgalllzed an
<br />environmental technology fair and pol-
<br />ieYforum, EARTHTECH 90, held on the
<br />Mall in Washington in early ApriL Us pur-
<br />pose was to bring environmentally sustain-
<br />able technologies, products and ideas to the
<br />attention of Congress, federal agencies, the
<br />public and the media. EARfHTECH 90
<br />was co-sponsored by the Congressional
<br />Study COl]ference, and co-chaired by Sena- ,
<br />tors AI Gore (D-Tenn.) and JohnHeinz (R-
<br />Pa.). Joe Raeder was the principal staffer for
<br />EARTHTECH, with the inveStment of con-
<br />siderable time by Executive Director Ken
<br />~utphy. .
<br />
<br />Ninety-five companies, non-profit organiza-
<br />tions and federal agencies mounted exhib-
<br />its. The fair'was financed On a break-even'
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