The profoundly important concept of intergenerational equity arguably came to the forefront in conservation science with the publication of Edith Brown Weiss’ book, In Fairness to Future Generations (1989) and with Robert Costanza’s book Ecological Economics (1991).
A brilliant essay combining the IE concept with the need to guide our cultural evolution was written by Paul Ehrlich: Intervening in evolution: Ethics and actions, published in PNAS 98 (10): 5477-5480, May 8, 2001 (www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.091093898)
ORIGINS AND EXTINCTIONS 