The United States is certainly a powerhouse in regard to many aspects. Music, sports, movies and TV shows, and many other things stem from the United States and are successful, yet this country has had an interesting past in terms of certain things that matter more to the overall well-being of our community, such as sustainability.

 

According to a 2019 study by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the United States ranks as the 35th out of 162 countries for sustainable development. This ranking was based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015. While not all of these goals relate directly to environmental sustainability, it is a common theme throughout the list and they are all tied together in the end.

 

Source: UN News

 

As I have looked further into this topic, it is interesting to see what role the United States has played in terms of sustainability and how it has caused climate change, and how these patterns should be altered in order to make a positive difference in the future.

 

In order to recognize these patterns of U.S.’s impact on sustainability, it is important to look at the history of this country’s sustainability efforts throughout the years.

 

One of the first movements toward sustainability was in the 1800s when factories became increasingly prevalent, and this increase of pollution had adverse effects on the community and environment. An organization which was one of the first-ever environmentalist groups in the United States, called “The Society for the Protection of Birds”, was brought together in 1889 by concerned citizens who wanted to make work more sustainable instead of factories’ work causing harm to the environment and the animals around it.

 

In 1916, the United States took another major step toward sustaining the environment by President Woodrow Wilson signing the “Organic Act” and creating the National Park Service. This new organization caused the opening of 35 national parks and monuments that a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior are responsible to manage and protect. This development ensured that these natural, open spaces would not be taken away by companies for more factories and environment-harming complexes.

 

Throughout the 1900s, there were many environment groups forming and new policies being instilled. To see a long outline of each of these, please reference this Sustainable Development Timeline by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

One of the most prominent developments of this time was the 1980 “Global 2000 Report” which talks about the nature of ecosystems and the importance of not harming the environment, but instead finding adequate, sustainable solutions to the world’s issues. The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea sparked the conversation about ocean pollution and established new environmental standards and rules.

 

After the developments of the late 1900s, Al Gore’s documentary entitled, “An Inconvenient Truth” shed light on extreme weather fluctuations and other issues that are caused by global warming on Earth.

 

Climate change was still heavily debated politically in the early 2000s, yet becoming environmentally conscious and sustainable became trendy for companies and customers to subscribe to. Everyone wanting to “go green” to make a positive impact on the community was popularized, so many organic foods were consumed, sustainable farming was supported, and diets such as vegetarianism and veganism became mainstream. People who began these eating habits often do so for their health, but mainly speak about how meat production and other non-vegan goods negatively contribute to the environment and community. By increasing the population’s vegetable consumption and raising fewer cows, the environment’s carbon levels would significantly decrease and therefore produce cleaner air.

 

The 2015 Paris Agreement was the first global effort to reduce pollution, emissions, and causes of climate change overall. The goal of this agreement is for each country to lessen their greenhouse gas emissions so that the overall global temperature does not increase by 2 degrees Celsius, as this negative impact could be irreversible. Unfortunately, U.S. former President Trump withdrew from this agreement, yet many citizens still adhere to the Paris Agreement with a coalition “We Are Still In” demonstrating support from U.S. citizens to lessen climate change in every possible way. Luckily, in 2021, President Biden rejoined the Paris Agreement and the United States is back to being a member of working to reduce our emissions.

Source: Statista

 

So, where does the U.S. go from here?

 

Since the Biden administration has rejoined the Paris Agreement and believes in the science of climate change, there are likely even more additions to sustainable environmental policy in the near future. As mentioned in one of my previous civic issues blogs, there are tons of opportunities to get involved in small, simple, easy ways. If everyone contributed to sustainability mindfulness and made the effort to make a positive change sustainably, climate change and other environmental issues would be significantly deterred.