8/7/2019 March 2011 Issue IJIS - Overview - Sustainabilty and Innovation

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Limited Resources

With the global economy seemingly moving towards growth after several years of recession the global

commodities market reminds us once again reminded of our limited resources. Copper (↑8.21%), Natural Gas (↑12.12%), Oil (↑6.56%) and other basic commodities are up, with the numbers above are

January alone. The Commodity Food Index is up 6.77% yet one of the factors attributed to the unrest

in the Middle East are food shortages. While a higher global standard of living has many benefits,

including greater security and stability, it comes with many risks - increases in pollutants, greater 

demand for high quality proteins and the almost insatiable demand for many commodities will stress

to earth in ways we as humans have never known.

Sustainability is a very diverse, and in many ways difficult, problem to define. Perhaps the word

problem is the real issue here however. Sustainability can and should be a solution, or an opportunity.

Nearly everyone can agree that reserves of oil will run out some day and that capturing solar power and

wind power is currently expensive. Of course one could also argue that automobiles are more expensive

than horses, but that didn’t stop society from adopting the automobile. Sometimes things are more

expensive because they are better. Looking at the issue as an economist would, most of our 

accomplishments of the 20th century were in large part to our ability to transport people and items

efficiently around the globe, something that would have been impossible without the combustion

engine. Also, there are still horses for those that like to ride. Really envisioning a sustainable world may

be more difficult than just imagining cars with no exhaust, wind turbines, solar panels and the end to

brown haze over our cities. It means incredible new innovations that come from those things. After all,

the internal combustion engine didn’t only mean cars and faster transportation; it meant a change in our 

civilization. What incredible innovations will arise from a sustainable world is still unknown.

This edition is dedicated to sustainability. Sustainable behaviors, promotion of sustainability, finding

sustainable opportunities and dealing with problems that work against sustainability are all topics of 

discussion in this edition. In fact, the call for papers was so successful we will publish additional

sustainability papers in coming editions. Our editors for this represent an outstanding group of 

sustainability conscious professionals. Dr. Vivek Varma was the initiator of the edition. Dr. Lisa

Friedman contributed significant time and the perspective piece for the edition, while Eduardo Armandooffered his global insight. Their dedication to the issues of sustainability is evident in this edition and

reflective of the new global sustainability movement. This is a truly exciting time in human history.

Happy Earth Day,

Brett E. Trusko, PhD

Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Innovation Science

Assistant Professor 

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

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