Our third dilemma examines policy goal orientations. Specifically, is the goal future-focused with attention to resource realities of population needs and ecosystem limitations of place (Gaus, 1947)? Or, not?
In A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis, policy analyst Eugene Bardach (2009) prescribes an eightfold path to more effective problem solving. “Projecting the outcomes”
is essential in this path because “ ‘policy’ is about the future, not about the past or the present” (Bardach, 2009: 38). However, Bardach (ibid.) explains, the future is never
predictable even “with the best of intentions and the most thoughtful of policy designs.”
Nevertheless, policy-crafting tunnels its vision towards popular, futuristic goals.
Because policy impacts people’s lives, Bardach stresses importance in making best projections about how policy will or might play out. Some of his tools for projecting outcomes include extending projections, estimating impacts, identifying uncertainties, applying incremental analyses, and constructing matrices (Bardach, 2009: 38-52). Each of these tools is susceptible to one problem: projected outcomes may be subverted by inabilities to think outside of existing ideologies. Future-thinking is limited by polity’s consciousness or polity’s awareness, and thus easily susceptible to Einstein’s dilemma.
In processes of design or engineering, resources used and impacted by design must be considered. When resource requirements are not considered, many problems can arise—faulty design, malfunctioning product, harm to others, environmental impacts, plus all related costs of production, malfunction, etc. To not consider impacts of design is to maintain a mote in one’s eye.
With the rapid increase in sustainability rhetoric, however, discussion about resource needs for biological growth have diminished. Physicist Albert A. Bartlett has noted this change in sustainability rhetoric. Since 1950, Bartlett (2006: 19) has observed that now “we have a spectrum of uses of the term sustainability.” At one end of this spectrum, Bartlett explains, discussions are about molecular properties and processes; at the other end of the spectrum, discussions are about good intentions, hopes and dreams, or desires; at worst, the term is used with intent to deceive (see Figure 8).
Figure 8 Diagram of sustainability rhetoric from various discourses plotted within physicist Albert A. Bartlett’s “spectrum of uses” (model ©2013 by author)
In discussion about resource realities, for example, social psychologist Abraham Maslow discusses human motivation in terms of human-needs hierarchy, a dependence upon ecosystems and other people that develops actualization exemplifying maturated leadership (1943). Biologists E.O. Wilson, Paul Ehrlich, and Gretchen Daily use the term carrying capacity to discuss interactions between biological entities and the ecosystem they inhabit (Ehrlich and Wilson, 1991; Daily and Ehrlich, 1992). Ecologist Garret Hardin uses the term cultural carrying capacity to amplify and underscore the reality that human created artifacts (from clothing to advanced technology) require additional resources of ecosystems that must be considered in carrying capacity (1993). Centered
Dilemma 3.!
!
Policy goals—FUTURE INTERESTS VS. RESOURCE REALITIES!
!
And so we have a spectrum of uses of the term “sustainable.”
Physicist Albert A. Bartlett, 2006: 19 !
!
!
Good intentions, desires or intentional deceptions Molecular properties & processes
FUTURE INTERESTS! RESOURCE REALITIES!
Sustainability discourses exemplified within rhetorical spectrum!
DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE!
within the illustrated spectrum of meaning is the term sustained yield, used in discussions of forestry and logging practices by the US Forest Service that focuses on future
developments of limited resources while paying attention to time and ecosystem
restrictions for such future yield (multiple use sustained yield, “MUSY,” in forestry law;
see Coggins et al., 2007: 686-690). These discussions of sustainability (Maslow, Ehrlich, Daily, Wilson, Hardin, and MUSY) include ecosystem realities and the consumptive needs of biological systems (molecular properties and processes).
Las Vegas’s sustainability goal, however, does not focus on present resource limitations of place or ecological impacts of resource importations for its populace;
instead, its goal is futuristic, unlimited growth. Supporting this goal, at the other end of Bartlett’s spectrum, is development discourse. Following G.H. Bruntland’s (1983) report to the World Commission for Environment and Development, an organization with economic development goals, sustainability rhetoric increased exponentially equating environment, society, and economics as three pillars while failing to identify each pillars’
foundational support. Economics is an ideology dependent upon societal agreements.
Neither an economy nor a society can exist without environmental ecosystems. In contrast, ecosystems have evolved without humans for multiple millions of years. While referencing Bruntland’s definition throughout its sustainability campaign (e.g. CLVN, 2007; CLVPDD, 2007), Las Vegas’ goal is futuristic, unlimited growth—becoming a
“World Class City” (CLVPDD, 2007: 1).
Environmental historian David Worster (1986: 259) suggests that for people living within an arid ecosystem of limited resources (Westerners), where deprivation
drives technological conquest, “power is more likely to be strenuously sought and won under the pressure of continuing environmental scarcity than of ready-to-hand
abundance.” While humans may be driven by deprivation-challenges, leadership goals that construct empires of excess and acquisition at the expense of others are questionable.
In this section, I have emphasized that future-focused policy must also be attentive to present resource realities (Gaus, 1947). Otherwise, policy becomes dissociated from reality.
Conclusion: Resolving Human-Constructed Dilemma
I have argued that sustainability policy has three inherent dilemmas—policy function and structure as a self-looping construct, policy content (and omissions) as problem avoidance, and policy goal orientations as future-interests dissociated from resource-realities.
My first argument draws attention to policy as a construction by polity leadership that sustains itself, producing a self-looping construct. While this process of reproducing polity has been responsible for creating and maintaining human societies throughout human history, when self-looping constructs become self-destructive (as in destroying ecosystems upon which society depends or metastasizing, gobbling up others’ resources), then problems exist. Las Vegas exemplifies this self-looping process. Polity that is
accustomed to engineering water, simply engineers more water as needed, from wherever possible. This solution relies upon a market system that buys water in an ever-expanding arena while externalizing those problems it creates.
Secondly, I have argued that self-looping policy is maintained by policy content that applies market strategies of problem avoidance and knowledge omissions to focus solely on market solutions. The populace acquiesces through “non-informed” consent manufactured via deprivations, omissions, disappearances, and eradications of societal knowledge. The populace is uninformed about (psychologically dissociated from) the very ecosystem in which it lives. Such problem avoidance and knowledge omissions prevail in modern societies that reward industries, like public relations firms, that master deception for economic gain. The populace has lost consciousness of the basic reality that all production comes at the expense of others—others’ resources, others’ labor, and others’ lives.
Thirdly, I have argued that policy goals must include present resource realities of place when oriented towards future goals. To focus on the future without attending to the present, re-produces outcomes within the limited awareness of one’s own ideological scaffolding (Einstein’s dilemma).
These three components of policy crafting have been interrogated for very specific reasons. They are prerequisites for applying second-order change. Second-order change allows paradigm shifts out of malfunctioning, cyclical behavior. However, this process of second-order change requires both a willingness to change and a constant vigilance in applying its steps. To review, second-order change requires: (1) identifying self-looping problems; (2) identifying specific problems and solutions attempted to solve problems; (3) deciding and committing to not reenacting problems and to not reenacting
attempted solutions; and, (4) redirecting attention to newly conceptualized, optimally functioning whole.
This critical examination has identified Las Vegas’ sustainability problems and its attempted solutions. Its sustainability campaign exemplifies a situation in which second-order change is needed. However, while self-looping problems are evident, Las Vegas polity may not recognize them as such. As lawsuits develop over the Great Basin Aquifer (Johnson, et al., 2014; Mrowka, 2014), Las Vegas now attempts market solutions to conserve Colorado River water (Postel, 2014). However, market solutions that arrive too
late (Castle et al., 2014; Keller, 2014) may perpetuate more of the same. Self-looping conundrums become caught up within one another.
Las Vegas’ problem: two million people want to live in an arid ecosystem that has evolved through millennia as an ecosystem of fluctuating water scarcity. Las Vegas’
solutions: a sustainability-tourism market that increases its tax base to purchase more water but also increases demand for more water while creating secondary problems that exponentially expand carbon footprints. The environmental, societal, and economic costs of resource importations are omitted from discussion. Instead of addressing these
problems, Las Vegas leaders exacerbate them by creating opportunities that practice omissions and ignore problems, omitting the fundamental ecosystem reality from policy and discussion. While increasing their tax base for a while, Las Vegas leaders still need to locate and purchase water for their populace and for the 40 million visitors paying for this system. The solution becomes economic, locked within its own problem-avoidance, thus, problem-perpetuating construct.
These challenges are great, not just for Las Vegas, but for similar problems occurring in many aspects of the global market system. Solutions to such conundrums exist, fours simple steps—second-order change. But, borrowing from John Gaus, until the task of politics is discovering the causes of problems and understanding the mutual relationships between organisms and their environment, policy solutions may continue to sustain polity but only so long as natural and cultural resources are able to sustain life.
Journal Article’s References
AAG (Association of American Geographers) (2012, January) New study reveals unique geographic footprint of sustainability science. AAG Newsletter, Washington, DC.
Achbar, M., J. Abbott, and J. Bakan (2004) The corporation [DVD]. Big Picture Media Corporation [URL http://www.THECORPORATION.COM].
Alexander, F. M. (1910) Man’s supreme inheritance: conscious guidance and control in relation to human evolution. Chaterson, Ltd., London.
Bakan, J. (2004) The corporation: the pathological pursuit of profit and power. Free Press, A Division of Simon and Schuster, New York.
Bardach, E. (2009) A practical guide for policy analysis: the eightfold path to more effective problem solving. CQ Press, Washington, DC.
Bartlett, A.A. (2006) Reflections on sustainability, population growth and the environment. In M. Keiner (ed.) The future of sustainability. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Zurich; Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Bell, J.W. (1981) Subsidence in Las Vegas Valley. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 95, 84 [WWW document]. URL http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/
sw/impacts/hydrology/vegas_gw/ (accessed 5 October 2008).
Bell, J.W. (2003) Las Vegas Valley: land subsidence and fissuring due to ground-water withdrawal. Impacts of climate change on water resources [WWW document].
URL http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/hudrology/vegas_gw/ (accessed 08 December 2008).
Bernays, E. (1947) The engineering of consent. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 250, 113-120.
Blatman, R. (2009) Saving the bay: the story of San Francisco Bay [DVD]. Ronald M.
Blatman, Inc. and KQED/KTEH Public Television [URL http://www.
savingthebay.org].
Bruntland, G.H. (1983/1987) Our common future. The World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford University Press, Oxford [WWW document]. URL http://www.un-documents.net/weed-ocf.htm (accessed 8 February 2010).
Castle, S.L., B.F. Thomas, J.T. Reager, M. Rodell, S.C. Swenson, and J.S. Famiglietti (2014) Groundwater depletion during drought threatens future water security of the Colorado River Basin. American Geophysical Union [WWW document].
DOI: 10.1002/2014GLO61055 (accessed 8 August 2014).
CCN (Clark County, Nevada) (n.d.). Geography and climatic summary for the Las Vegas and Apex Valleys: Appendix B, Clark County interdepartmental planning [WWW document]. URL http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/depts./daqem/aq/planning/
Documents?PM/NEAP/AppB.pdf (accessed 19 February 2009); and, URL
www.http:http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/AirQuality/Documents/Planning/
SIP/PM10/App_B%E2%80%93Geography_and_Climatic_Summary.pdf (re-accessed 3 May, 2014).
Christensen, J. (1994) Las Vegas wheels and deals for Colorado River water. High Country News, 21 February, [WWW document]. URL https://www.hcn.org/
issues/4/118 (accessed 8 May 2014).
Christopherson, R.W. (2000) Geosystems: an introduction to physical geography (4th Edition). Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
CLVN (City of Las Vegas, Nevada) (2006, November) Sustainable Las Vegas. Official City of Las Vegas Web Site [WWW document]. URL http://lasvegasnevada.gov/
files/Sustainable_Las_Vegas.pdf (accessed 23 February 2009).
CLVN (City of Las Vegas, Nevada) (2007) Sustain Las Vegas Policy No CM 302.
Office of City Manager, Las Vegas, Nevada [Pdf document received as email from representative Paul Grimyser (14 January 2009)].
CLVN (City of Las Vegas, Nevada) (2008a) International sustainability organization honors Las Vegas: City of Las Vegas has numerous “green” programs [Media Release] Official City of Las Vegas Web Site [WWW document]. URL
http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Publications/15207.htm (accessed 23 February 2009).
CLVN (City of Las Vegas, Nevada) (2008b) Sustaining Las Vegas – policy timeline.
Official City of Las Vegas Web Site [WWW document]. URL http://www.
lasvegasnevada.gov/files/Greening_of_LV.pdf (accessed 8 December 2008).
CLVN (City of Las Vegas, Nevada) (2008c) Urban forestry initiative. City of Las Vegas celebrates trees [Brochure: WWW document] URL http://relaunch.
citiesclimateregistry.org/uploads/tx_carbonndata/Las_Vegas_Urban_Forestry_
Initiative.pdf (accessed 10 July 2014).
CLVN (City of Las Vegas, Nevada) (2009) Sustainability news archive. Official City of Las Vegas Web Site [WWW document]. URL http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/
sustaininglasvegas/16501.htm (accessed 23 February 2009).
CLVPDD (City of Las Vegas Planning and Development Department) (2007) Las Vegas sustainability joint workshop report. Growth Watch. (Fall) City of Las Vegas Planning and Development, Las Vegas, Nevada [WWW document]. URL https://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/files/GrowthWatchFall2007.pdf (accessed 7 May 2014).
Coggins, G., C. Wilkinson, J. Leshy and R. Fischman (2007) Federal public land and resources law (6th Edition). Foundation Press, New York.
Conrad, B. (2009, July 9) Nevada’s state engineer releases water right ruling on Cave, Dry Lake and Delmar Valleys. Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources [WWW Document] URL: http://denr.nv.gov/pages/state-engineer/
(accessed 8 November 2009).
Daily, G.C. and P.R. Ehrlich (1992). Population, sustainability, and earth’s carrying capacity: a framework for estimating population sizes and lifestyles that could be sustained without undermining future generations. BioScience 42.10, 761-771.
Deacon, J.E., A.E. Williams, C.D. Williams, and J.E. Williams (2007) Fueling population growth in Las Vegas: how large-scale groundwater withdrawal could burn
regional biodiversity. BioScience 57.8, 688-698.
Dery, D. (1984) Problem definition in policy analysis. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.
Diamond, J. (2005) Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed. Penguin Books, New York.
Dijk, M.P. van (2012) Introduction: special issue on shifts in urban water governance paradigms. International Journal of Water 6, 3.4, 137-154.
Dowd, D. (2004). Capitalism and its economics: a critical history. Pluto Press, London.
Easton, D. (1957) An approach to the analysis of political systems. World Politics 9.3, 383-400.
Ehrlich, P.R. and E.O. Wilson (1991) Biodiversity studies: science and policy. Science, New Series 253.5021, 758-762.
Ellul, J. (1954 [1984 English translation]) Money and power. InterVarsity Press, Madison, WI.
Ellul, J. (1964) The technological society. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Ellul, J. (1977) The technological system. The Continuum Publishing Corporation, New York.
Ellul, J. (1990) The technological bluff. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI.
ENS (Environmental News Service) (2013, April 17) Colorado River tops America’s most endangered rivers’ list [WWW document]. URL http://ens-newswire.com/
2013/04/17/Colorado-river-tops-americas-most-endangered-rivers-list/ (accessed 3 June 2013).
Foster, J.B., B. Clark, and R. York (2010). The ecological rift: capitalism’s war on the earth. Monthly Review Press, New York.
Gaus, J.M. (1947) The ecology of public administration. Reflections on public Administration, 3, 3-19. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.
Gertner, J. (2007, October 21) The future is drying up. The New York Times [WWW document]. URL http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html (accessed 6 March 2009).
Gorelow, A. (2005, 2nd Edition) Climate of Las Vegas, Nevada. NOAA technical
memorandum NWS WR-271. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce.
Gössling, S., P. Peeters, C.M. Hall, J.P. Ceron, G. Dubois, L.V. Lehmann, and D. Scott (2012) Tourism and water use: supply, demand, and security: an international review. Tourism Management 33, 1-15.
Green, E. (2008) Quenching Las Vegas thirst: Part 1: Satiating a booming city: a relentless drought combined with explosive growth in southern Nevada is exhausting the options for satisfying the needs of 2 million residents. Las Vegas Sun. 1 June 2008 [WWW document]. URL http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/
2008/jun/01/satiating-booming-city/ (accessed 15 May 2012).
Hammond, K. (2010) Personal communication [Fieldnotes: 12 May 2010]. Ellensburg, WA.
Hardin, G. (1993) Living within limits: ecology, economics, and population taboos.
Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Harvey, D. (2010a) The crisis of capitalism. RSA Animate [Transcript: WWW
document]. URL http://www.thersa.org/events/video/archive/david-harvey-the- crises-of-capitalism (accessed 1 July 2014).
Hedges, C. (2009) Empire of illusion: the end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle.
Nation Books, New York.
Herman, E.S. and N. Chomsky (1988) Manufacturing consent. Pantheon Books, New York.
Hof, A. and T. Schmitt (2011) Urban and tourist land use patterns and water
consumption: evidence from Mallorca, Balearic Islands. Land Use Policy [WWW document]. DOI:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.01.007.
Icarus (2009) Einstein enigmatic quote. Icarusfalling: walking a path with knowledge humility [WWW document]. URL http://Icarus-falling.blogspot.ca/2009/06/
Einstein-enigma.html (accessed 10 May 2014).
Johnson, A., S. Herskovits, and S. Erickson (2014, February 12) Vegas pipeline foes sue feds. Great Basin Water Network. Baker, NV [News release: WWW document].
URL http://www.greatbasinwaternetwork.org (accessed 26 July 2014).
Keller, S.J. (2014, 30 July) Colorado River Basin groundwater levels drop even faster than reservoirs. High Country News [WWW document]. URL https://www.hcn.
org/blogs/goat/new-study-shows-dramatic-groundwater-decline-in-the-colorado-river-basin (accessed 12 August 2014).
Klein, N. (2007) The shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York.
Laity, J. (2008) Deserts and desert environments. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
Leopold, A. (1949) A sand county almanac. Oxford University Press, Inc., Oxford.
Maslow, A.H. (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review 50, 370-396.
Maxon, J.C. (2006) Lake Mead and Hoover Dam: the story behind the scenery. K C Publications, Las Vegas, NV.
Mayda, C. and R. Homes (2009) Oxymoron Vegas: sustainable casinos [Fieldtrip]. The Association of American Geographers 2009 Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada (p.66). Association of American Geographers, Washington, DC.
Meko, D.M., C.A. Woodhouse, C.H. Baisan, T. Knight, J.J. Lukas, M.K. Hughes, and M.W. Salzer (2007) Medieval drought in the upper Colorado River basin.
Geophysical Research Letters 34m L10705 [WWW document]. URL http://
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL029988/pdf (accessed 10 May 2013).
Mrowka, R. (2014, February 12) Lawsuit filed to halt massive Las Vegas water grab:
pipeline would dry up springs and wetlands, hurt fish, sage grouse, pronghorn and other species. Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson, AZ [Newsletter:
WWW document]. URL http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/
2014/southern-nevada-water-authority-02-12-2014 (accessed 26 July 2014).
NDCNR (Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) (2012, March 22) State Engineer releases water right rulings for SNWA’s pipeline project [WWW document]. URL http://dcnr.nv.gov/2012/03/state-engineer-releases-water-right-rulings-for-snwas-pipeline-project (accessed 26 July 2014).
Pitt, J. (2013) Phoenix and LA spar over Colorado River water [WWW document]. URL http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/?s=mead-drought (accessed 12 August 2014).
Postel, S. (2014, 6 May) An innovative conservation fund for the Colorado River. Water Currents [National Geographic’s Freshwater Initiative] [WWW document]. URL http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/06/an-innovative-conservation -fund-proposed-for-colorado-river/ (accessed 12 August 2014).
Powell, J.W. (1869/1988) Exploring the Colorado River: firsthand accounts by Powell and his crew. (ed.) John Cooley. Dover Publications, New York, NY.
Reisner, M. (1986) Cadillac desert: the American west and its disappearing water.
Penguin Books, New York.
Rowe, C. (2011, September 30) When it comes to importing water, nothing seems too
extreme. High Country News [WWW document]. URL http://www.hcn.org/wotr/
when-it-comes-to-importing-water-nothing-seems-too-extreme (accessed 5 October 2011).
Selby, D. (n.d.) Douglas Selby biography. Douglas Selby and Associates [WWW document]. URL http://www.dougselby.com/douglasselbybio.html (accessed 16 July 2014).
Signorelli, J. (2006, August) Reuse water distribution via Las Vegas [Symposium paper]
International Symposium on Environment 2006, Athens Greece, August 2006.
[Copy provided by J. and D. Huckabay, 5 May 2009].
Simonds, W.J. (2006) The Boulder Canyon Project: Hoover Dam. United States Bureau of Reclamation Official Website [WWW document]. URL http://www.usbr.gov/
history/hoover.html (accessed 2 January 2009).
SNWA (Southern Nevada Water Authority) (2008). A brief history of water in southern Nevada: 2008 water resource plan [WWW document]. URL http://www.snwa.
com/assets/pdf/wr_plan_chapter1/pdf (accessed 11 November 2008).
SNSU (State of Nevada and State of Utah) (n.d.) Agreement for management of the Snake Valley groundwater system [WWW document]. URL http://www.
parsonsbehlelaw.com/CM/Articles/Nevada-Utah%20Interstate%20Groundwater
%20Negotaionions %20ABA.pdf (accessed 1 November 2010).
Snyder, T. (2012, February 27) Timothy Snyder: “Thinking the twentieth century” by Tony Judt [Interview, radio broadcast transcript]. The Diane Rehm Show, Washington, DC [WWW document]. URL http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows /2012-02-27/timothy-snyder-thinking-twentieth-century-tony-judt (accessed 28 February 2012).
Stegner, W. (1954) Beyond the hundredth meridian. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Stewart, Jr., J., D.M. Hedge, and J.P. Lester (2008, 3rd Edition) Public policy: an evolutionary approach. Thompson Wadsworth, Boston.
SustainLane (2008) [Ranking number] 47. Las Vegas, NV – Viva? Las Vegas – 2008 US cities sustainability ranking by SustainLane.com [WWW document]. URL http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/cities/las-vegas (accessed 28 February 2009).
TSEOTSON (The State Engineer of the State of Nevada) (2007, April 16) Ruling No 5726: In the matter of applications 54003 through 54021, inclusive, filed to appropriate the underground water of the Spring Valley hydrographic basin
(184), White Pine County, Nevada [WWW document]. URL http://www.blm.gov /pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/groundwater_development/water_rights.Par.5728.Fil e.dat/SNWA%20ruling%205726%20Spring%20Valley.pdf (re-accessed 25 June 2014).
UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) (2006) Urban expansion in Las Vegas.
One planet, many people: atlas of our changing environment [PPT, thematic slides, urban area, slides 21-24]. [WWW document]. URL http://na.uenp.net/atlas/
onePlanetManyPeople/…//UrbanAreas.ppt (re-accessed 10 May 2014).
USDOD (United States Department of Defense) (2005) Joint civilian orientation
USDOD (United States Department of Defense) (2005) Joint civilian orientation