EcoSector is working to expand society’s commitment to ecosystems to equal its commitment to other essential infrastructure systems like transportation, communications, and health care. As part of that expanded commitment, we propose the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Ecosystems in the U.S. federal government.

The creation of a Department of Ecosystems will offer many benefits. It will:

• Promote and symbolize society’s recognition of the importance of ecosystems to peoples’ lives and health, and our role in assuring their vitality.
• Increase and solidify access to the President for our nation’s top environmental official.
• Improve intra- and inter-governmental relations.
• Enhance international relations.

Promoting the Importance of Ecosystems

Our society and our government invest greatly in many important large-scale systems, including highways, agriculture, telecommunications, etc. By comparison, we pay very little attention to the health of our ecosystems, systems on which all life depends.  That the U.S. government has Departments of Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, etc., but no Department of Ecosystems illustrates society’s gap in its commitment to ecosystems compared to other interests.

Protecting public health and the environment by assuring the vitality of ecosystems is a mission of at least equal importance to the missions of other cabinet-level departments. Recognizing this, and undertaking a serious commitment to ecosystems will create a fundamental shift in our society and our economy.

Imagine a world where we recognize the inter-relationship between all things, and support the healthy functioning of our planet’s life support systems. Picture a society that fulfills its needs for technology, energy, and industry in a way that balances all of our needs and the needs of all living things.

Increasing Access to the President

While some past Presidents have awarded their EPA administrators “cabinet rank,” this status is up to each individual President. The creation of a Department of Ecosystems, with a Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and Undersecretaries will officially establish the important role of environmental officials, and guarantee a Cabinet seat for ecosystem concerns. The Secretary would report directly to and function as an important advisor to the President.

Improving Intra- and Inter-Governmental Relationships

Cabinet-level status would strengthen the role of environmental officials when dealing with the Secretaries of federal departments and other governmental agencies. In contrast to the federal government, most states place their own top environmental official in the governor’s cabinet. A Secretary of Ecosystems would be in an excellent position to work with the environmental officials of each of the 50 states.

Enhancing International Relations

A June 2001 study by the Congressional Research Service found that, of 198 governments, all but 9 place their environmental responsibilities at the ministerial level. All major industrialized nations, with the exception of the United States, have top environmental officials of ministerial status.

Promoting healthy ecosystems and protecting public health and the environment increasingly involves negotiations with foreign nations. Creating a Department of Ecosystems will allow our nation’s top environmental official to interact with other nations as do other Cabinet Secretaries, such as the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.

Existing Support

There already exists a high level of support for the creation a cabinet-level Department focused on the environment. Most of the political enthusiasm for this initiative exists in the form of support for elevating the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet-level status, thereby creating the Department of Environment Protection.

According to a September 2001 report from the Congressional Research Service, the Bush Administration supported H.R. 2438, one of three Congressional bills to elevate the EPA.

At a Senate hearing in September 2001, such notable figures as EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, Senator Barbara Boxer, Representative Sherwood Boehlert, former EPA Administrators Carol Browner and William Reilly, and former EPA General Counsel E. Donald Elliott testified in support of elevating the EPA to Cabinet status.

EcoSector supports elevating the EPA to Cabinet level, and proposes that the new entity be named “Department of Ecosystems” rather that “Department of Environmental Protection,” because the context of the words “environmental protection” suggests that we, as people, are separate from the environment and need to protect it. By comparison, the paradigm of “ecosystems” recognizes that people, along with all creatures, are part of the ecosystems that make up our planet, and thereby inter-related to all creatures.

Ultimately, our goal is to expand the frame of reference through which our society views its relationship to the world from one of separation to one of coexistence and mutual benefit.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.