Dear Mr. President,

On this 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, we call on you and your Administration to affirm our country's commitment to sustainability and the transition to a sustainable economy and society.

America faces a number of serious threats to our quality of life and those of our children and grandchildren -- problems rooted in the shortsighted thinking and ways of doing business of the past century. We are in a new century with new challenges and we now need new solutions and thinking.

In 2012, on the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit, we want our government to present to the world its long-range vision for our future and a strategy for taking us there.

We ask that the Administration complete the task begun in 1993 following the Earth Summit, to create a sustainability strategy for America that will address the interdependent economic, social and environmental challenges facing us in the 21st century.

While the previous President's Council for Sustainable Development no longer exists, the challenges to America's economic and environmental security remain. We ask the President to appoint a body with the authority and institutional capacity to coordinate among departments and agencies as well as consult with Congress and the American people to develop this strategy.