Our society has long been ruled by the pursuit of short-term performance and profits – ruled by the adage that greed is good. That has meant tough going for a labor movement based on the principle of solidarity – that an injury to one is an injury to all. But even now, in the midst of one of the greatest economic upheavals in history, little is being said about curbing corporate power. We must do more, for the good of the planet and the people. The sustainability movement, with the labor movement as a part of it, can help us get there.

We may never do away with greed. But we certainly can do away with the societal dynamic that we’ve been living for the hundred years of the growth of capitalism where we honor greed, and pay homage to a piece of pavement called Wall Street. Sustainability allows us to view decision making through a lens of humanity.

The fight against global warming is really part of a broad shift in society’s principles and vision – a shift from honoring greed to honoring what’s good for the health of the planet and the people on it first and foremost. That shift is embodied in what is called the “sustainability movement.” And if we think about what the sustainability movement is really about, shifting a focus in policy decision making from one that honors Wall Street to one that honors humanity, that’s in the benefit of labor.

Climate protection is the leading edge for a new philosophy of sustainability that includes but goes beyond the environment to encompass social and economic sustainability as well. This is often summed up in the “triple bottom line” that calls on corporations to be accountable for their environmental, social and economic footprint — not only for environmental performance, but for their economic and social performance as well. That is the direction in which many environmental groups are going, with Ceres — Investors and Environmentalists for Sustainable Prosperity — leading the way.

Unless labor is part of the sustainability movement, our concerns and interests will be overshadowed and sustainability will remain green only. For sustainability to be truly full spectrum and triple bottom line, labor has to become fully engaged in the movement.

Such an approach can change the political, social, and economic context for the labor movement. It goes beyond “green” to a demand for the overall sustainability of our way of life. The Sustainability movement will define the 21st century in a fundamental way, and if done right has the potential to complete the unfinished agendas of the great social movements of the 20th century: labor, civil rights, women’s, environment, equality, peace – and labor can be not only a beneficiary, but a critical player in getting us there. If it is, its future will be secure. It is in labor’s interest to become a major player in the sustainability movement, and part of the answer to the climate crisis.

What is sustainability? According to the EPA: The U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 declared as its goal a national policy to “create and maintain conditions under which [humans] and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.”

The most widely quoted definition internationally is the “Brundtland definition” of the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development – that sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (EPA’s Region 10 Sustainability Web site provides more information on definitions and history of “Sustainability.”)