Bridging the Political Divide on Sustainability

The gulf between conservatives and liberals on the merits of sustainability may be lessened with a little history lesson.  So says SERF Scholar Colin Maguire in his paper American Stewardship:   A Path Already Laid,  which he is presenting at next week’s 2012 Environmental Justice and Global Citizenship Conference at Oxford University in England.

The study traces the Founders’ philosophies on private property rights, a core American principle, with the corresponding responsibility for property owners to be good and proper stewards of their land.  Sustainability is, it seems, not such a new concept in America, and should be embraced as an essential element of our nation’s founding.