Environmental Sustainability in Transatlantic Perspective A Multidisciplinary Approach

The task of building more energy-efficient, climate-friendly and sustainable societies is the defining challenge of the 21st century. Striving to become the world's first major renewable energy economy by 2050, Germany is a global front runner in environmental policy and practice. Requiring massive investments in green technologies and infrastructure, Germany's ambitious shift from fossil fuels and nuclear power to renewables requires nothing less than an 'energy revolution.' How and why did Europe's largest economy embrace a challenge that has been compared to the first landing on the moon? What does this transition entail? Is the German experience transferable to other industrialized nations such as the United States? Experts from business, academia, governmental agencies and non-profit think tanks offer multi-disciplinary perspectives on the experiences behind and the challenges ahead. They open up new viewpoints and avenues for shared insight on environmental governance, energy security, technological innovation, green landscape and urban design, as well as on the possibilities for transatlantic partnership and cooperation.

Manuela Achilles is the Associate Director of the Center for German Studies at the University of Virginia, USA and teaches in the History Department and Department of German Studies. She has published at the intersections of history and literature, with a focus on modern Germany.
 
Dana Elzey is Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Virginia, USA. In addition to teaching and research, he is director of the Rodman Scholars Program and of International Programs for the School of Engineering and Applied Science. His areas of expertise are design thinking, international engineering programs and the processing, properties and mechanics of advanced composites.

Introduction; Manuela Achilles and Dana Elzey
PART I. BROADER CONTEXTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
1. Putting a Price on the Planet: Economic Valuation of Nature's Services; Mark White
2. International Trade and the Environment: Does Globalization Create Havens of Pollution?; Peter Debaere
3. New Directions in Green City Building; Timothy Beatley
PART II. GERMANY'S ENERGY REVOLUTION
4. The German Green Party: From a Broad Social Movement to a People's Party; Arne Jungjohann
5. Germany's Ecological Tax Reform: A Retrospective; Michael Mehling
6. 'Nuclear Power? No, Thank You!': Germany's Energy Revolution Post-Fukushima; Manuela Achilles
7. Ambitions and Realities of the German Energy Revolution; Brian Marrs
PART III. TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION AT THE MACRO AND MICRO LEVELS
8. The Transatlantic Climate Bridge: Challenges and Opportunities; Anja Kueppers-McKinnon, Georg Maue and Carmen Kristan
9. Formalizing the Transfer and Application of Environmental Policies and Lessons From Germany to the United States: The Case of Northern Virginia; Dale Medearis
10. Cultivating the Cross-Cultural Engineer: Key Insights; Dana M. Elzey and Kerstin Steitz
11. Designing for the Anthropocene: The Duisburg RhinePark; Jorg Sieweke
12. Eco-Revelatory Design: An Approach you Can Bank On; Eugene Ryang