Dr. Jon Foley - February 5, 2009 - Complex global environmental problems have taken center stage in the 21st century. The needs of six billion people are rapidly depleting natural resources and weakening our planet's ecosystems. Locally, the politically charged task of reducing carbon emissions was to have been a central issue in Minnesota's 2009 legislative session. But the looming budget deficit has refocused the discussion. As economic pressures mount, how will environmental issues compete with other priorities? How can we keep sustainability efforts at the forefront even as we work to combat the effects of the economic crisis? To continue to inhabit our shrinking planet, it's going to take a fresh approach.
