The National Environmental Policy Act opens with a charge to the government to "use all practicable means" so that the "nation may fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations." This embodied the ethic of sustainability in law, but raises important questions about interpretation and implementation. Once the idea of preserving the entirety of the global environment untouched for future generations is recognized as infeasible, then trade-offs emerge. How should society evaluate whether and how to undertake development given this obligation to future generations?
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