Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Sustainable development cannot be decreed and depends on society's dominant
values. The emergence of debate on community ecological footprints shows that the
United States is changing its outlook on the world, progressively taking into account
the perils of a form of development which is based on extensive use of land,
dependence on fossil fuels and wasted natural resources. However, it is only when it
comes to implementation of Agenda 21 and the critical evaluation of urbanization
and mobility patterns that we can measure how the force of habit, cultural
preconceptions and social divisions push American society further away from the
objectives of sustainable development. Let us hope that the Obama presidency
beginning on January 20, 2009 will mark a new beginning and that America will
once again innovate and surprise us by its power of resilience.
