Sustainability, Well Being, and Environment Protection: What's An Agency To Do?

EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) hosted a forum in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. on December 2, 2005 to explore the relevance of sustainability to an environmental protection mission and how it can be carried out. More than 100 EPA managers and staff and other professionals with interests in economics, environmental sustainability and human well being heard four panel discussions that featured distinguished economists and other experts and their interaction with the attendees.

The first panel grappled with conceptual issues, e.g., whether sustainability is tantamount to intergenerational equity and what sustainability’s relationship is to environmental protection. The remaining panels discussed what the mainstreaming of sustainability might engender at the ground level: How might policy design and assessment be affected? What about how environmental quality and societal well-being at measured at the national level?

You may read the Rapporteur’s Summary (PDF) of the workshop (13 pp, 74KB, About PDF), the Precis Papers (PDF) prepared by the workshop panelists (26 pp, 260KB, About PDF), and Participants List (PDF) (13 pp, 92KB, About PDF). Workshop photographs can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail images following the Agenda below.

AGENDA
Welcome/Introductory Remarks
Welcome	Alan Hecht, Director for Sustainable Development, U.S.EPA
Remarks	George Gray, Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, U.S.EPA
Panel 1: Basis
Moderator:	Herman Daly, Professor of Public Affairs, University of Maryland
Panelists:	Tony Janetos, Vice President, The Heinz Center Geoffrey Heal, Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility, Columbia University Bryan Norton, Professor of Philosophy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Panel 2: Measurement
Moderator:	Kirk Hamilton, Lead Environmental Economist, The World Bank
Panelists:	Mark Anielski, Independent Consultant Bhavik Bakshi, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University Joy Hecht, Independent Consultant Lisa Wainger, Research Scientist, University of Maryland
Panel 3: Policy Options
Moderator:	Jay Benforado, Director, National Center for Environmental Innovation, U.S. EPA
Panelists:	Rich Howarth, Professor of Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College Meghan Chapple-Brown, Senior Advisor, SustainAbility Bryan Norton, Professor of Philosophy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Panel 4: Policy Assessment
Moderator:	Tom Tietenberg, Professor of Economics, Colby College
Panelists:	John Gowdy, Professor of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rich Howarth, Professor of Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College Billy Pizer, Fellow, Resources for the Future Mike Toman, Professor of International Relations, Johns Hopkins University
Closing Remarks
	Alan Hecht, Director for Sustainable Development, U.S.EPA
Photos from the workshop:
Photo credits to Dr. Joy Hecht. Click any thumbnail to enlarge in a pop-up window.

Sustainability, Well Being, and Environment Protection: What's An Agency To Do?

AGENDA

Local Navigation