Acting as if Tomorrow Matters
Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability
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In his previous book, the well-received and often-quoted Agenda for a Sustainable America (2009), John Dernbach made more than a hundred recommendations for making the United States more environmentally sustainable. Yet it is increasingly clear that the modest progress made by the United States since the Earth Summit in 1992 is not caused by the absence of specific and feasible policy recommendations. What we need to do is well known. How we are going to do it is much less clear.
Acting as if Tomorrow Matters is a guide to making the United States environmentally sustainable. It is based on the views of more than four dozen nationally known experts in a variety of fields. Synthesizing answers to essential questions about sustainability, Dernbach provides an empirically based framework to explain the progress made in the United States to date on sustainability, including a description of the most significant obstacles to rapid and increased success.
Building on the framework that has guided real progress so far, Dernbach explains in detail how to make a greater variety of more sustainable decisions even more attractive, how law can provide an even better enabling environment for sustainability, and how public opinion and leadership can more effectively be engaged to support sustainability. The book thus provides a checklist of ideas and opportunities for moving toward sustainable development-starting now.
"From Rio '92 to Rio '12: America's pledge to achieve sustainability has been honored too often in the breach. The reasons for both failures and successes are many and complex, as are the tasks ahead. Acting As If Tomorrow Matters offers redemption and a vision of success." Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University
"A masterful account of sustainability in America since the 1992 Earth Summit and the imperative of where the country should go...filled with hope, imagination and inspiration...essential reading if we are to act as if tomorrow matters."
Thomas E. Lovejoy, Biodiversity Chair, George Mason University"For many years John Dernbach has led one of the most important studies on sustainability. His unique contribution is that he has skillfully included an ethical and religious approach to this pressing subject. He has woven interdisciplinary responses from science and policy with environmental ethics. For this extraordinary effort and for this excellent book we are all in his debt."
Mary Evelyn Tucker, Director, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University"John Dernbach's Acting As If Tomorrow Matters is a compelling supplement to his existing body of work on sustainable development. The book articulates the collaborative spirit needed to move the needle on sustainable development, while challenging each of us to play an active role in shaping that sustainable future. Not just a book to read, but one to be taken to heart."
Neil Hawkins, Vice President, Sustainability and Environment Health & Safety,, The Dow Chemical Company"Using the knowledge and experience of leading sustainability practitioners, this book demystifies the quest for sustainability by providing a checklist of practical and tested ideas that can be used in any place or sector to create an attractive and sustainable future."
Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund"John Dernbach has been the leading chronicler of the 20-year quest for sustainability in the United States since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. What Professor Dernbach has observed in the United States is reflective what is going on around the world."
Jacob Scherr, Director of Global Strategy and Advocacy, Natural Resources Defense CouncilGoogle preview here
You may purchase this title at fine bookstores across the United States. Outside the USA, see our international sales information.
