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Premiers don't usually take the bus to work. But Alex Scott did when he made a trip last week prior to launching the Draft Sustainable Development Plan and Strategy.

He took some flak for doing so. There was criticism that the bus trip was a political stunt. But would anyone have wanted him to not make a fanfare over so significant an event in our community?

Let's face it, this is the first time in the history of this island, to the best of my knowledge, that the government has invited a lay body of people to ride herd on government decisions.

Whether those decisions affect the environment, the economy, or social factors like housing, transportation or youth development, The Sustainable Development Round Table (SDRT) will represent the Bermuda people to press for compliance with the Sustainable Development Plan that has just been unveiled in draft form.

This is something that sensible economists and environmentalists have been awaiting for several decades. We have known for at least that long that human activity was causing irreparable harm to Bermuda's environment and, by extension, to the economy and our quality of life. I believe the Premier deserves 'brownie points' for putting the SD Project into motion.

I believe that in taking the bus, the Premier wanted to make a gesture that demonstrated by action what the SD Plan says in words. We note that he didn't say he would be using alternative transport every day - that would have been a magnificent expression of commitment. He did commit to once a month and that's a start. I also note that, so far, I haven't heard from other members of Parliament or Cabinet that they will match or one-up the Premier's pledge. I guess we've some work to do to have that occur.

Sustainability is really a mindset. Once it becomes thoroughly entrenched - yes, I'm optimistic - we will all approach daily decisions with an overview of sustainable practice, much as a parent approaches every activity of their children with a concern for safety. It's very similar, really.

We are talking about the safety of our children, their children and generations to come. Our generation is probably the one most capable so far of either destroying the world or sustaining it. As we have become more wealthy, with more disposable income and more applied technology, we have developed more ways to devour energy in huge gulps.

We rip the tops off mountains to get at the coal, exploit whole countries of people to get at their oil; we construct and propel gargantuan ships to transport petroleum and its products. Meanwhile we produce and drive progressively larger vehicles to travel at higher speeds; we construct larger buildings in which we have to maintain artificial climates; we create ever more exotic devices and appliances - all of which accelerate our per capita consumption of energy. And as a consequence the price of oil and its products is rising beyond imagination. This is not sustainable.

Now the real work begins. Our government ought to take the lead in modelling sustainable behaviour. A move to smaller vehicles would be a meaningful start. Why shouldn't every government department or building have a sustainability team and its own local plan? The plan could include moderating the use of air conditioning, acquiring paper and other materials with sustainability in mind, reducing materials waste (paper and equipment), and recycling.

For sure, all lights that aren't needed for work should be turned off. Leaving lights on in buildings all night is not a sustainable practice.

The Premier and his Cabinet have pledged their commitment to the principles of Sustainable Development. That's a good start. We can all do the same.[[In-content Ad]]

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