Columbia Law School Scholarship Archive Faculty Scholarship Faculty Publications 2021 Making America A Better Place for All: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration John C. Dernbach Widener University Commonwealth Law School, [email protected] Scott E. Schang Wake Forest University School of Law, [email protected] Robert W. Adler University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, [email protected] Karol Boudreaux Landesa John Bouman Legal Action Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Environmental Law Commons, International Law Commons, and the Law and Economics See next page for additional authors Commons Recommended Citation John C. Dernbach, Scott E. Schang, Robert W. Adler, Karol Boudreaux, John Bouman, Claire Babineaux- Fontenot, Kimberly Brown, Mikhail Chester, Michael B. Gerrard, Stephen Herzenberg, Samuel Markolf, Corey Malone-Smolla, Jane Nelson, Uma Outka, Tony Pipa, Alexandra Phelan, LeRoy Paddock, Jonathan D. Rosenbloom, William Snape, Anastasia Telesetsky, Gerald Torres, Elizabeth A. Kronk Warner & Audra Wilson, Making America A Better Place for All: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration, ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, VOL. 51, NO. 4, P. 10310, 2021; WIDENER UNIVERSITY COMMONWEALTH LAW SCHOOL LEGAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER NO. 21-12 (2021). Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2752 This Working Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Scholarship Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarship Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors John C. Dernbach, Scott E. Schang, Robert W. Adler, Karol Boudreaux, John Bouman, Claire Babineaux- Fontenot, Kimberly Brown, Mikhail Chester, Michael B. Gerrard, Stephen Herzenberg, Samuel Markolf, Corey Malone-Smolla, Jane Nelson, Uma Outka, Tony Pipa, Alexandra Phelan, LeRoy Paddock, Jonathan D. Rosenbloom, William Snape, Anastasia Telesetsky, Gerald Torres, Elizabeth Ann Kronk Warner, and Audra Wilson This working paper is available at Scholarship Archive: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/ 2752 Widener Law Commonwealth Widener University Commonwealth Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series no. 21-12 Making America a Better Place for All: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration John C. Dernbach, Director of the Environmental Law and Sustainability Center at Widener University Commonwealth Law School Scott E. Schang, Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law and Senior Director for Corporate Engagement at Landesa Robert Adler, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law Karol Boudreaux, Chief Program Officer at Landesa John Bouman, Director of Legal Action Chicago Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Chief Executive Officer of Feeding America Kimberly Brown, Associate Director of the Rule of Law Program at the Carter Center Mikhail Chester, Associate Professor at the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University Mark Dorosin, Managing Attorney of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Michael Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School Stephen Herzenberg, Executive Director at the Keystone Research Center Samuel Markolf, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Merced Corey Malone-Smolla, a Policy Specialist at Feeding America Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School Uma Outka, Associate Dean, Faculty, and William R. Scott Law Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law Tony Pipa, Senior Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution Alexandra Phelan, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center LeRoy Paddock, Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in Environmental Law at George Washington University Law School and Managing Director at the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Jonathan Rosenbloom, Professor of Law at Vermont Law School William Snape, Professor at American University, Washington College of Law, and Senior Counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity Anastasia Telesetsky, Professor at California Polytechnic State University Gerald Torres, Professor of Environmental Justice and Professor of Law at Yale Law School Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law Audra Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law This paper can be downloaded without charge from The Social Science Research Network http://ssrn.com/abstract=3816749 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3816749 Copyright © 2021 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120. MAKING AMERICA A BETTER PLACE FOR ALL: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION edited by John C. Dernbach and Scott E. Schang John C. Dernbach is Commonwealth Professor of Environmental Law and Sustainability and Director of the Environmental Law and Sustainability Center at Widener University Commonwealth School of Law. Scott E. Schang is Professor of Practice and Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law and Senior Director for Corporate Engagement at Landesa. SUMMARY In 2015, the United Nations Member States, including the United States, unanimously approved 17 Sus- tainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. The SDGs are nonbinding; each nation is to implement them based on its own priorities and circumstances. This Article argues that the SDGs are a critical normative framework the United States should use to improve human quality of life, freedom, and oppor- tunity by integrating economic and social development with environmental protection. It collects the recom- mendations of 22 experts on steps that the Biden-Harris Administration should take now to advance each of the SDGs. It is part of a book project that will recommend not only federal actions, but also actions by state and local governments, the private sector, and civil society. In the face of multiple challenges and opportuni- ties, this Article is intended to contribute to a robust public discussion about how to accelerate the transition to a sustainable society and make America a better place for all. n 2015, the United Nations Member States, including measuring progress.3 They thus provide a clear lens for all the United States, unanimously approved the 2030 countries, whether developing or developed, to identify, Agenda for Sustainable Development, which at its core prioritize, measure, and report on concrete targets and Iincludes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be indicators on making progress toward sustainability. achieved by 2030.1 The United States took an active role in The United States faces significant headwinds with eco- developing these goals and endorsing them.2 The goals aim nomic and racial inequality, spikes in hunger and poverty, to integrate government, private-sector, and civil society political polarization, and declines in infrastructure reli- strategies across areas such as poverty, hunger, infrastruc- ability and environmental protection. In this context, the ture, education, gender and racial equity, and environmen- SDGs provide an important framework for measuring cur- tal degradation for the purpose of achieving sustainable rent U.S. progress, lack of progress, or backsliding toward development. Each of the goals is accompanied by a set sustainability. While the COVID-19 pandemic is an enor- of more discrete targets as well as metrics or indicators for mous setback for public health, economic development, and other SDGs, the SDGs also provide a framework for recovery, including inclusive growth, a strengthened public health system, and clean energy.4 1. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, G.A. Res. 70/1, U.N. GAOR, 70th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/RES/70/1 (2015), https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalas- sembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf. See also United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,The 17 Goals, https://sdgs. 3. This Article’s authors frequently refer to targets and indicators in their dis- un.org/goals (last visited Feb. 14, 2021). cussion of specific SDGs. 2. Anthony F. Pipa & Kaysie Brown, American Leadership on the Sustainable 4. See generally United Nations, The Sustainable Development Goals Development Goals, Brookings, Oct. 14, 2019, https://www.brookings. Report 2020 (2020), https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/The-Sus- edu/blog/up-front/2019/10/14/american-leadership-on-the-sustainable- tainable-Development-Goals-Report-2020.pdf (most recent United Na- development-goals/. tions report on SDGs). 51 ELR 10310 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 4-2021 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3816749 Copyright © 2021 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with