George P. Mitchell and the Idea of Sustainability

George Mitchell's name is well-known in many circles, for many reasons. Some might know him best as the energy entrepreneur whose company became one of the largest independent oil and gas producers in the country; others might recognize him as the preservationist who rejuvenated the downtown district of his home town of Galveston and helped revive the city's celebration of Mardi Gras; still others would know him as the visionary real estate developer who imagined and built an environmentally friendly community called The Woodlands; countless numbers, perhaps, have benefited directly or indirectly from his many philanthropic efforts in higher education.

In George P. Mitchell and the Idea of Sustainability, however, author Jurgen Schmandt, who worked with Mitchell for many years, focuses on Mitchell's deep, decades-long involvement with the world-wide conversation about building and maintaining a sustainable society. From the inception of the sustainability movement in the early 1960s---when its focus was on population growth and depletion of natural resources---until today---when global warming and overconsumption dominate the debate---George Mitchell has contributed time, energy, and economic resources to further the state of knowledge and the impetus for understanding the optimal balance between economic and ecological well-being.

By organizing and hosting conferences, awarding prizes, supporting scholars and scientists, and funding research and publications with organizations such as the Aspen Institute, the National Academy of Sciences, the Mitchell Center for Sustainable Development, and the Houston Advanced Research Center, George Mitchell has provided leadership in the ongoing quest to create societies that are "capable of reaching and then sustaining a decent quality of life for their citizens."

George P. Mitchell and the Idea of Sustainability Places Mitchell's achievements story in the context of a much broader story: how industrialization and population growth have created unforeseen limits to human endeavors that must be dealt with over the course of the next half century.

Jurgen Schmandt is professor emeritus of public affairs at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. He is also a distinguished fellow at the Houston Advanced Research Center, where he was formerly the director of the Mitchell Center for Sustainable Development. He lives in Austin.