Sustainability: More Than Reducing Fossil Fuel Use

While there are several reasons to reduce the amount of fossil fuel we use, the term sustainability encompasses a much broader range of issues. To give us hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the Earth's resources, particularly as the number of people living on this planet exceeds 7,000,000,000 this year, it is important to look at all those resources from a sustainability perspective and decide what we need to do to protect and preserve them.

On June 2nd, the Scarsdale Forum will present a sustainability program at the Scarsdale Library Scott Room at 8 PM. The program will feature three knowledgeable and highly respected speakers who will share trends, findings and concerns from their respective organizations.

Nancy Alderman associated with Yale University, is President of Environment and Human Health, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human health from environmental harms. She is a member of the Yale College class of 1994 and has an M. S. degree from Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She has written, edited and provided research for many articles, books and studies. She has also received recognition awards for work in her field.

Megan Klein is an associate attorney at Earthjustice in New York City. Megan works on issues related to natural gas development of Marcellus Shale, pollution from coal plants and health risks from toxic chemicals. In addition, Megan strongly believes in the power of changing eating habits to curb global warming and currently is investigating ways to challenge the practices of factory farms. Prior to working at Earthjustice, Megan spent a summer helping to create a rooftop farm in Brooklyn. She received her law degree from Fordham University 's School of Law.

Patti Wood is founder and executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. As a Visiting Scholar at Adelphi University, Ms. Wood lectures on the environment and related health issues in the School of Nursing and the Chemistry department. Ms. Wood also works with the Environmental Health Division of the New York State Department of Health producing public information materials and serves on the Governor's Advisory Council for Sustainability and Green Procurement. She has co-produced a film and written extensively about the impacts of environmental threats to the health of children.