Is society moving quickly enough to adopt proactive land planning tools to achieve sustainable communities?

Question

Tools like resource permitting, green building codes, and watershed and agricultural protection.

Do you think current efforts are acceptable, or do we need to redouble our efforts to reshape the American community of the future into one that works for us and for the planet?

Answer 1

I have to agree with Randel.  Communities are sustainable.  We have had communities for hundreds of years.  They have become more sustainable over time.  In that time there were always naysayers that suggested we were running out of resouces in spite of the fact that resources kept increasing.  I like green building codes.  I spent a lot of effort to insulate my house more and I live in So California.  I didn't need nosy green neighbors or intrusive government to do it.   That said, I would still favor some "green" building codes since sometimes it is cheaper to make them more fuel efficient over the long run and my house is certainly much more comfortable now.

Answer 2

Yes it is,The human race will eventualy be extinguished if we keep this up

Answer 3

Do you mean should the gov. usurp private land owners rights to use their property as they see fit?

h**l no.  Like it or not this is still America, and I will do as I please with my land.

Answer 4

No.  The current efforts aren't acceptable.  

While laudable on a philosophical level (that people are beginning to take notice) - on a practical level (what we are up against, what needs to be done, how much time we have) they are woefully short.

The hard science tells us that it may already be too late.  Ecosystems, once destroyed, will not be recovered in our lifetime, not in 100 years, not in 1000 years.  

Every minute we wait, every minute we continue with business as usual, is another mete of human suffering and death that is sure to be visited upon us.

People who complain about politics miss the point completely.  

There  can be no politics, no economy, no society, no civilization without a functioning biosphere.

The warning signs are all around us.  What will it take for us to heed them?

Here's todays beat of the drum.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/2008071...

All you politicians out there - tell me what caused oysters to disappear from the Chesapeake, why it matters or doesn't matter that they are gone, how the "free market" could have prevented this, and how the "free market" is going to recover this ecosystem?  Hint:  Unrestrained cornucopian free market capitalism caused this problem, how can it possibly fix it?

Answer 5

This is still the land of the free amy, maybe you do things like that out on the left cost, try it here and you might find yourself on the wrong end of a gun

Answer 6

Sustainable or green usually means having to live like a third-world country with poor quality goods.  I know this because we have energy saving Maytag front-load washer and dryers and they have both broken down at least three times each so far.  They're also more destructive on your clothes--and don't save you any money!

Answer 7

Where do you live, Russia?

Answer 8

We had a county board that took your approach.  The key word is 'Had'  

The basic right to own property and be free to use your property is one of the founding principles of the United States.

That some as you, dana and blob, have suggested, should have the right to tell landowners what, how, and when they can use the property that is theirs, strikes at the heart of the resistance to your movement.

Too many wars have been fought to keep ideals like that out of our nation, I can assure you, your view's will not go UN- resisted, to the point of tearing this country apart.

Answer 9

No, it's not.  

Just as one example, there is a passive house building design standard which is fairly common in Germany ('passive haus') and is extremely energy efficient, yet it's almost unheard of in the US.  In fact, I only heard about it myself by chance.

http://greenlineblog.com/passive-house-p...

As another example, most of the areas with the most rapid population growth in the US (i.e. Las Vegas, Phoenix, Atlanta) are in areas with major water supply problems, either experiencing major droughts, in the middle of deserts, or both.

I just don't think sustainable living is on most people's radar yet, but it needs to be.

Answer 10

When you talk of "we" and "reshaping the community" you fail to see that there is no "we" and that "the community" comprises a set of individuals, each of whom has different ideals and goals, each of whom has a different set of factors that "work" for him or her, and each of whom is entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - happiness as he or she defines it, not as you define it for them.

Some of your questions REALLY scare me.   Answers like "it needs to be" REALLY scare me.   You work your whole life to be able to afford your dream home - then someone else tries to force you to live in THEIR dream home.  

As for "oxygen masks" - the air is cleaner than it was fifty years ago.    The water too.    

The whole "we can't keep living this way if the population keeps growing" argument fails and then is re-asserted every generation - - it fails because in a free society, a free market, we DON'T keep doing everything the same way - we innovate.   The price mechanism rewards innovation and informs producers of what innovation is needed.

Every generation has this debate and every time, the same side wins.   Last generation it was Ehrlich and Simon.  

In the 1800s you could have written an article about how the use of whale blubber was "unsustainable" as the population grew, and you would have been right.    It didn't take massive government programs or coerced "re-shaping of our community" to "end our addiction to whale blubber."  

Better, cleaner, cheaper, more efficient methods were developed.   Why?   Because there was a buck in it for the people who came up with those methods.

For hundreds of years of feudalism, there was little innovation - because there wasn't a buck in it for someone to innovate and there weren't any bucks to invest in innovation.

Free economies work.    Controlled economies don't.    

EDIT - it's only "we" if it's voluntary.    Not if it's coerced.     "We" is the market.     I've seen the real "we" too - and so have you.    It's right in front of you.   And it's quite amazing.

Germany is a great example.    So is Tanzania - Julius Nyrere's "ujamaa" program.  

http://www.fee.org/publications/the-free...

Answer 11

No.  You will undoubtedly find out in life that society as a whole moves very slowly.  The barn door is locked only after the horses have been stolen.  Current efforts to go green are not acceptable.  I think as a whole, society really needs to get their **** together.  Many do not care about the air we breathe as long as they can rev their engines and make a lot of noise.  I see the mature future as having quiet vehicles that move us speedily about in our daily activities and leave no environmental footprint.  Imagine a world more quiet.  Less mental problems due to noise.  I wonder when will society wake up to these facts.  Probably when the air becomes so un-breathable that we will all have to wear oxygen masks.  Good question

Answer 12

Who is the we that will reshape the community?  I am for a better community however, WE can run over individual rights and that would be unacceptable.

Answer 13

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Wouldn't it be great if people really had a say about where tax dollars are spent. If individuals would get proactive on the local level...you might see national involvement.

Answer 14

yea,well...last time Germany had this great idea of rounding up people and making them live according to a government agenda...it didn't work out very well if you recall.....like another said.....this is a little too scary for me also....I only require one thing of my government..leave me along to live as I desire. Solyent Green was a fine movie, but I wouldn't wanna' live there!!