Making America A Better Place for All: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration

24 Pages Posted: 2 Apr 2021 Last revised: 20 Apr 2021

See all articles by John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

Widener University - Commonwealth Law School

Scott Schang

Wake Forest University - School of Law; Landesa

Robert W. Adler

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law

Karol Boudreaux

Landesa

John Bouman

Legal Action Chicago

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot

Feeding America

Kimberly Brown

United States Agency for International Development

Mikhail Chester

Arizona State University (ASU) - Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering

Mark Dorosin

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Michael Gerrard

Columbia University - Law School

Stephen Herzenberg

Keystone Research Center

Samuel Markolf

University of California, Merced

Corey Malone-Smolla

Feeding America

Jane Nelson

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Uma Outka

University of Kansas - School of Law

Tony Pipa

Brookings Institution

Alexandra Phelan

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

LeRoy Paddock

George Washington University - Law School

Jonathan D. Rosenbloom

Albany Law School

William Snape

American University - Washington College of Law

Anastasia Telesetsky

California Polytechnic State University

Gerald Torres

Yale Law School

Elizabeth Ann Kronk Warner

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law

Audra Wilson

Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Date Written: 2021

Abstract

In 2015, the United Nations Member States, including the United States, unanimously approved 17 Sustainable 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 opportunity by integrating economic and social development with environmental protection. It collects the recommendations 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 opportunities, 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.

Keywords: sustainable development goals; SDG; sustainable development; climate change; Biden Administration; poverty; COVID-19; inequality; partnerships; environmental protection, poverty, hunger, infrastructure, education, justice, decent work, hunger, health

JEL Classification: K00, K3, K19, K32, N5, O13, Q2

Suggested Citation

Dernbach, John C. and Schang, Scott and Adler, Robert W. and Boudreaux, Karol and Bouman, John and Babineaux-Fontenot, Claire and Brown, Kimberly Marie and Chester, Mikhail and Dorosin, Mark and Gerrard, Michael and Herzenberg, Stephen and Markolf, Samuel and Malone-Smolla, Corey and Nelson, Jane and Outka, Uma and Pipa, Tony and Phelan, Alexandra and Paddock, LeRoy and Rosenbloom, Jonathan D. and Snape, William and Telesetsky, Anastasia and Torres, Gerald and Kronk Warner, Elizabeth Ann and Wilson, Audra, Making America A Better Place for All: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration (2021). Environmental Law Reporter, Vol. 51, No. 4, 2021, Widener Law Commonwealth Research Paper No. 21-12, University of Utah College of Law Research Paper No. 437, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3816749

John C. Dernbach (Contact Author)

Widener University - Commonwealth Law School ( email )

3800 Vartan Way
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9380
United States

Scott Schang

Wake Forest University - School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 7206
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
United States

Landesa ( email )

1424 Fourth Avenue
Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98101
United States

Robert W. Adler

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law ( email )

332 S. 1400 East Room 101
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0730
United States

Karol Boudreaux

Landesa

1424 Fourth Avenue
Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98101
United States

John Bouman

Legal Action Chicago

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot

Feeding America

Kimberly Marie Brown

United States Agency for International Development ( email )

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States

Mikhail Chester

Arizona State University (ASU) - Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering

Tempe, AZ
United States

Mark Dorosin

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Michael Gerrard

Columbia University - Law School ( email )

435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10025
United States

Stephen Herzenberg

Keystone Research Center

Samuel Markolf

University of California, Merced

Merced, CA
United States

Corey Malone-Smolla

Feeding America

Jane Nelson

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Uma Outka

University of Kansas - School of Law ( email )

Green Hall
1535 W. 15th Street
Lawrence, KS 66045-7577
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.ku.edu/faculty/uma-outka

Tony Pipa

Brookings Institution

1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

Alexandra Phelan

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health ( email )

Baltimore, MD
United States

Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security ( email )

621 East Pratt Street, Suite 210
Baltimore, MD 21202
United States

LeRoy Paddock

George Washington University - Law School

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States

Jonathan D. Rosenbloom

Albany Law School ( email )

80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
United States

William Snape

American University - Washington College of Law

4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States

Anastasia Telesetsky

California Polytechnic State University

San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
United States

Gerald Torres

Yale Law School

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06510
United States

Elizabeth Ann Kronk Warner

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law ( email )

383 S. University Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0730
United States

Audra Wilson

Shriver Center on Poverty Law

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