SustainUS: U.S. Youth for Sustainable Development

SustainUS Chair Ellie calls for Rio Engagement on Grist

Check out SustainUS Chair Ellie's new piece in Grist -- "Speak up! Young people need to be heard at the Earth Summit!"

Next month, the United Nations will hold a mega-conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — the Earth Summit, aka Rio+20. In addition to being an international Who’s Who of over 130 heads of state and leaders in sustainable development, it will also be a chance for young people to assert the urgency of the challenges we face and seize the opportunities presented to our generation to address them.

Yeah, I know you’re probably still sour about the last global enviro conference that made headlines — the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations. I understand that bitterness. I was there, a senior in college then, all wide-eyed and hopped up on hope. But in preparing to attend the Earth Summit with other youth leaders, I come with renewed enthusiasm that this conference will be different. Read more...

Four SustainUS Members Receive Udall Scholarships

SustainUS is proud to recognize its four members who were just named Udall Scholars.

The Udall Scholarship is given to undergraduate college students in their sophomore or junior years who are committed to careers related to the environment, tribal public policy or Native American health care.

The following members received the Udall Scholarship: Abigail R. Borah, Rachel G. Briggs, Christopher ‘Kit’ B. Dobyns, and Ashley E. Eberhart.

Environmental Education – It’s more than naming trees!

(Washington, DC) – Attending the first ever White House Summit on Environmental Education shed light on what’s wrong with the environmental movement: the generational balance of power. While I am extremely honored to have been invited to attend, I cannot help but be disappointed that there were not enough young environmental leaders sitting at the table next to leaders of government, business, academia and NGOs.

"It’s time to redefine success"- SustainUS in Grist

For the past couple years we have seen our economic system being thrown into upheaval as economies waver. Following up on the piece by SustainUS members in the New York Time's Dot Earth last week about the two recent conferences on new economics -- one a youth conference at Harvard, the other a UN conference -- Ethan Case, SustainUS Steering Committee member, discusses this building movement for new forms of economics on the popular environmental blog Grist.

SustainUS Rio+20 delegates Mike and Rina in Revkin's Dot Earth!

SustainUS Rio+20 delegates Michael Sandmel and Rina Kuusipalo are featured in the latest New York Times Dot Earth blog post, "Young People Tire of Old Economic Models," written by Andrew Revkin. The piece examined the movement towards progressive economic paradigms that value personal well-being and social and environmental health.