Sustaining Capabilities is a blog covering energy and global development, managed by Ryan McGuine. The inspiration for the name comes from combining “sustainability” and “capability.” Sustainability, defined by the 1987 Brundtland Commission as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” refers to the ultimate goal of the way we produce and consume energy. Capability refers to the “capability approach” established by Amartya Sen — that considering the number of alternative combinations of states and activities that one could feasibly achieve provides a richer understanding of one’s well-being than personal income alone.