Take humans out of the equation and the Earth is a pretty sustainable place.

Despite a series of mass extinctions and ceaseless natural changes to its geography and climate, the Earth has supported life in one form or another for 3.5 billion years, a magnificent array that has ranged from the earliest single-celled organisms to dinosaurs to the millions of plant and insect species that currently blanket the globe.

Yet, the most relentless agent of change may very well be the one species that has been around for the briefest of time, geologically speaking—the modern human, Homo sapiens. “The wise man.”

We are responsible for the extinction of certain early bird and mammal species, some of it by necessity. But we may have raised the stakes even higher by precipitating the current mass extinction—often referred to as the Sixth Extinction—through pollution, climate change, poor land stewardship, over-harvesting of natural resources, and other environmental stressors.

And we now question whether we can repair some portion of the damage we perpetrated.

Our aboriginal ancestors universally and consistently understood that there was a cycle to life, that eventually everything comes full circle, and we are most certainly entwined in it. (Our cover story looks at the efforts of Native Americans to clean up brownfield sites on tribal properties given to them to settle in America’s not-so-distant past [pg. 16].)  

But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this idea of the circle of life was revived, at least among scientists, and grew into or became part of the emerging environmental movement. While the recognition of global warming in the 1980s brought home the message that we were mucking things up, it would take another 20 years and a former vice president to reignite the passion and determination of the environmentally conscious to take a more resolute stand this time.

Maintaining is no longer an option. We must learn to sustain.

So is this really a new awakening or just a rehash of old commitments forgotten?

Here at Brownfield News, we’re counting on the fact that a realization has been reached and it’s here to stay for more than just a decade. So much so that we’ve changed our name to Brownfield News & Sustainable Development to reflect the exciting changes we see happening in the field.

Over the past year, we’ve seen increased evidence in the articles we’ve written that people are thinking about the end results of their projects in sustainable terms—how can we conserve energy, how can we reuse land more effectively, what is the long-term benefit of the decisions we make today?

In an industry with the catchphrase “the low-hanging fruit has been picked,” two of our editorial board writers, Kelly Novak and Chris Olson, give an indication of just how many rural surplus properties and brownfields are out there and how to best return them to practical use. In some cases, the answer just may be to return them to their natural state (pgs. 8 and 9).

And real estate attorney James Mayer talks about real estate trends for the coming year in the face of a possible recession and the future advantages to going green early in any build out process (pg. 14).

Let me just say, I don’t buy into the fact that everything can be made sustainable, or that everything that claims to be sustainable is. (And we’ll go into greater detail on that in our expanded April issue.) The desire to jump on the sustainable bandwagon has led many to make claims about their products or services that just aren’t true or are a stretch at best.

I recently read a press release that suggested financial institutions are trying to align themselves with sustainable practices, some merely by affiliation with sustainable or green organizations, others by printing fewer documents on paper.

Does this make these organizations greener or more sustainable? Well, I suppose they’re more green than they were a year ago, but is it enough to make me purchase their product or service?

Probably not.

I think most people will agree that sustainability has become part of a new universal movement and language, but there are those who remain skeptical about its longevity. Alan Bressler is one of them and explains his stance in no uncertain terms in this issue’s “View from the Field” (pg. 28).

There are many questions surrounding this issue and we don’t claim to have all the answers. But it is our goal to better define the more useful aspects of sustainability and how they apply to our readers. I hope you’ll ask your own questions and give us your feedback as you follow our progress in the pages of Brownfield News & Sustainable Development.

John Spizzirri, Managing Editor
johns@brownfieldnews.com