Tom DeWeese - American Policy Center
Sustainable Development is the 1992 action plan set forth by the United Nations in 40 chapters of a socialist political agenda called Agenda 21 to control every aspect of life. Some of the more important goals are:
Change Consumption Patterns;
Promote Sustainable Human Settlements;
Plan & Manage All Land Resources, Ecosystems, Deserts, Forests, Mountains, Oceans, Fresh Water;
Agriculture;
Rural Development;
Biotechnology;
Ensuring Equity;
an increased role for Non-Government Organizations (NGOs); and
define the role of Business and Financial Resources.
All this was to be accomplished on a global, national, and local scale.
The 5 Paths to Sustainable Development
1) WILDLANDS
2) SMART GROWTH
3) STAKEHOLDER COUNCILS / BOARDS
4) PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
5) EDUCATION
The first two paths to "sustainable development" calls for strict land use policies designed to tell humans where and how they will live.
1) THE WILDLANDS PROJECT was conceived by Dave Foreman, author of "Earth First"
Half of the land area of the entire United States will be designated "wilderness areas", where only wildlife managers and researchers will be allowed. These areas will be interconnected by "corridors of wilderness" to allow migration of wildlife, without interference by human activity. Wolves will be as plentiful in Virginia as they are now in Idaho and Montana.
The abominable plan is to herd humans off the rural lands and into "human settlements" one step at a time. From the diabolical mind of Foreman, the plan became the blueprint for the UN's Biodiversity Treaty making it international in scope. The treaty was rejected by the U. S. Senate. Nonetheless, it has made its way down the chain of command using rule-making authority administratively.
It begins with a large wilderness reserve where there is no human activity such as National Parks. One such area in the Commonwealth is the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area which covers approximately 1800 square miles of Virginia. These areas are for the most part, road less areas where cars are off limits. Around the park is a highly regulated buffer zone which consists of mostly agricultural and forestal land where human activity is strictly limited.
Strict regulations and special permit requirements for every activity related to farming, logging, livestock, mining etc. make it difficult for land owners to realize a profit. Add to that the down-zoning to require 25 or more acres to build one home and it is unlikely there will be any future development of the land. Eventually the land owner is forced to take conservation easement relief to reduce the tax liability for the land in order to save it and survive. In exchange for tax relief, the land owner agrees that the land will forever be preserved void of any human activity. As rural land is removed from the tax base, the tax burden increases to the remaining land owners. This is just one of many programs to redistribute wealth.
The preserved land then becomes part of the wilderness reserve and the buffer zone is now expanded outward around the now larger wilderness reserve. The process is perpetuated and, like a cancer, it is ever expanding and the goal of locking away 50% or more of America's landscape is achieved.
Many rural land owners have long envisioned that if they invest their life's work in land, they could retire on the profits of future development of their property. But central planning to preserve rural land and limit growth to within the new urban boundaries extinguishes any hope of realizing that dream. How will they support themselves in their twilight years when their only potential source of income is diminished?
2) SMART GROWTH is the counterpart for the Wildlands;
As human activity is moved from rural lands, smart growth policies dictate the establishment of high-density government controlled, government subsidized feudalistic zones of cooperation called "human settlements" in the in charter. Virginia calls them Urban Development Areas" (UDA's).
The areas designated for urban development will consist of mixed use subsidized housing funded by our State Treasury and all managed by non-government boards that resemble "Home Owners Associations." Housing units will be designed to provide most of the infrastructure and amenities required by the residents. Shops and office space will be an integral part of each unit, and housing will be allocated on a priority basis to people who work in the unit - with quotas to achieve ethnic and economic balance. Schools, daycare and recreation facilities will be provided. Each unit will be designed for bicycle and foot traffic, to reduce, if not eliminate, the need for people to use automobiles. There is little focus on the building or expansion of roads and more emphasis on public transportation.
The plan is to limit growth to within the urban boundaries to prevent sprawl; reduce the carbon footprint to eliminate the undefined, unsubstantiated science of "global warming"; reduce the impact of humans on the environment outside the urban boundary zone.
A natural consequence of growth limited to within the UDAs is the shortage of land which results in a much higher cost for housing. Higher housing costs means higher taxes. housing costs are further increased as green building codes are imposed that require the use of internationally approved "green seal" materials.
There are strict regulations imposed to require a permit to remove a tree, disturb land for any reason such as tilling for a vegetable or flower garden, landscape regulations to dictate what plant species can be planted, what materials can be used to build a home, a tiered rate for water consumption that has the potential of a high increase in the cost of water especially for those with large families, energy efficiency standards and energy audits that will result in limits on consumption and result in the expensive refitting of a home in order to meet ones' daily needs for water and energy.
3) "STAKEHOLDER COUNCILS" and "GOVERNING BOARDS" -
The third path is the most important to the implementation of sustainable development policies. It is the use of these unelected bodies draft the plans and establish the policies, set fees, and in many cases can create debt all at the expense of the taxpayer. Many even have the power of eminent domain.
Sustainable development policy dictates this transformation of the policy-making process. The idea that government is empowered by the consent of the governed is the idea that set the United States apart from all previous forms government. It is the principle that unleashed individual creativity and free markets, which launched the spectacular rise of the world's most successful nation.
The idea, and the process by which citizens can reject laws they don't want, simply by replacing the officials who enacted them, makes the ballot box the source of power for every citizen, and the point of accountability for every politician.
When public policy is made by elected officials who are accountable to the people who are governed, then government is truly empowered by the consent of the governed. Sustainable development has designed an administratively, with only symbolic, if any, participation by elected officials and the public. The professionals and bureaucrates who actually make the policies are not accountable to the people who are governed by them.
This is the "new collaborative decisions process," called for by the President's Council on Sustainable Development and is being used to steer communities to a "consensus" of a predetermined goal. Because the policies are developed at the top, by professionals and bureaucrats, and sent down the administrative chain of command to state and local governments, elected officials feel they have little option but to accept them. Acceptance is further ensured when these policies are accompanied by "economic incentives and disincentives." along with lobbying and public relations campaigns coordinated by government-funded non-government organizations not to mention the lobbying efforts of all the other special interests which stand to gain from the new policies.
4) PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHPS.
Today, many freedom organizations are presenting PPPs as free enterprise and a private answer for keeping taxes down by using business to make a better society.
In truth many PPPs are nothing more than government-sanctioned monopolies in which a few business's are granted special favors like tax breaks, the power of eminent domain, non-compete clauses and specific guarantees for a return on their investments. Only those approved by the internationally recognized green building certification system called Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) will survive.
As a result, they can charge what they want and they can use the power of government to put competition out of business. That is not free enterprise and will result in the opposite of economic development. One only needs to look to history with all the jobs that have been sent abroad to see the negative impact on jobs when government selects the winners and losers in business.
5) EDUCATION;
To ensure that sustainability principles will be the new standard for future generations. Since freedom-loving people would never willingly submit to such totalitarian control, education became the "key" to sustainable development. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 called education, Public Awareness, and Training, made clear an intention to integrate Agenda 21 into ALL curriculum as a de facto international education standard.
Education for Sustainable Development began in the US with the No Child Left Behind Act to reinforce the United States' commitment to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO's) goals for education.
Today, President Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) holds states "accountable" to implement their previously signed agreements. States and districts that refuse to "align" their standards, curriculum, and assessments with these so-called "world-class standards" will lose federal funding. NCLB requires full implementation by the end of 2014 - which just so happens to be the final year of The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. What a coincidence!
The US Department of Education carefully insulated themselves from critics of this radical agenda by funding tax-exempt, non-government organizations (NGOs) to do their dirty work. Sometimes an NGO is several layers removed from its true funding source.
Sustainable Development is the 1992 action plan set forth by the United Nations in 40 chapters of a socialist political agenda called Agenda 21 to control every aspect of life. Some of the more important goals are:
Change Consumption Patterns;
Promote Sustainable Human Settlements;
Plan & Manage All Land Resources, Ecosystems, Deserts, Forests, Mountains, Oceans, Fresh Water;
Agriculture;
Rural Development;
Biotechnology;
Ensuring Equity;
an increased role for Non-Government Organizations (NGOs); and
define the role of Business and Financial Resources.
All this was to be accomplished on a global, national, and local scale.
The 5 Paths to Sustainable Development
1) WILDLANDS
2) SMART GROWTH
3) STAKEHOLDER COUNCILS / BOARDS
4) PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
5) EDUCATION
The first two paths to "sustainable development" calls for strict land use policies designed to tell humans where and how they will live.
1) THE WILDLANDS PROJECT was conceived by Dave Foreman, author of "Earth First"
Half of the land area of the entire United States will be designated "wilderness areas", where only wildlife managers and researchers will be allowed. These areas will be interconnected by "corridors of wilderness" to allow migration of wildlife, without interference by human activity. Wolves will be as plentiful in Virginia as they are now in Idaho and Montana.
The abominable plan is to herd humans off the rural lands and into "human settlements" one step at a time. From the diabolical mind of Foreman, the plan became the blueprint for the UN's Biodiversity Treaty making it international in scope. The treaty was rejected by the U. S. Senate. Nonetheless, it has made its way down the chain of command using rule-making authority administratively.
It begins with a large wilderness reserve where there is no human activity such as National Parks. One such area in the Commonwealth is the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area which covers approximately 1800 square miles of Virginia. These areas are for the most part, road less areas where cars are off limits. Around the park is a highly regulated buffer zone which consists of mostly agricultural and forestal land where human activity is strictly limited.
Strict regulations and special permit requirements for every activity related to farming, logging, livestock, mining etc. make it difficult for land owners to realize a profit. Add to that the down-zoning to require 25 or more acres to build one home and it is unlikely there will be any future development of the land. Eventually the land owner is forced to take conservation easement relief to reduce the tax liability for the land in order to save it and survive. In exchange for tax relief, the land owner agrees that the land will forever be preserved void of any human activity. As rural land is removed from the tax base, the tax burden increases to the remaining land owners. This is just one of many programs to redistribute wealth.
The preserved land then becomes part of the wilderness reserve and the buffer zone is now expanded outward around the now larger wilderness reserve. The process is perpetuated and, like a cancer, it is ever expanding and the goal of locking away 50% or more of America's landscape is achieved.
Many rural land owners have long envisioned that if they invest their life's work in land, they could retire on the profits of future development of their property. But central planning to preserve rural land and limit growth to within the new urban boundaries extinguishes any hope of realizing that dream. How will they support themselves in their twilight years when their only potential source of income is diminished?
2) SMART GROWTH is the counterpart for the Wildlands;
As human activity is moved from rural lands, smart growth policies dictate the establishment of high-density government controlled, government subsidized feudalistic zones of cooperation called "human settlements" in the in charter. Virginia calls them Urban Development Areas" (UDA's).
The areas designated for urban development will consist of mixed use subsidized housing funded by our State Treasury and all managed by non-government boards that resemble "Home Owners Associations." Housing units will be designed to provide most of the infrastructure and amenities required by the residents. Shops and office space will be an integral part of each unit, and housing will be allocated on a priority basis to people who work in the unit - with quotas to achieve ethnic and economic balance. Schools, daycare and recreation facilities will be provided. Each unit will be designed for bicycle and foot traffic, to reduce, if not eliminate, the need for people to use automobiles. There is little focus on the building or expansion of roads and more emphasis on public transportation.
The plan is to limit growth to within the urban boundaries to prevent sprawl; reduce the carbon footprint to eliminate the undefined, unsubstantiated science of "global warming"; reduce the impact of humans on the environment outside the urban boundary zone.
A natural consequence of growth limited to within the UDAs is the shortage of land which results in a much higher cost for housing. Higher housing costs means higher taxes. housing costs are further increased as green building codes are imposed that require the use of internationally approved "green seal" materials.
There are strict regulations imposed to require a permit to remove a tree, disturb land for any reason such as tilling for a vegetable or flower garden, landscape regulations to dictate what plant species can be planted, what materials can be used to build a home, a tiered rate for water consumption that has the potential of a high increase in the cost of water especially for those with large families, energy efficiency standards and energy audits that will result in limits on consumption and result in the expensive refitting of a home in order to meet ones' daily needs for water and energy.
3) "STAKEHOLDER COUNCILS" and "GOVERNING BOARDS" -
The third path is the most important to the implementation of sustainable development policies. It is the use of these unelected bodies draft the plans and establish the policies, set fees, and in many cases can create debt all at the expense of the taxpayer. Many even have the power of eminent domain.
Sustainable development policy dictates this transformation of the policy-making process. The idea that government is empowered by the consent of the governed is the idea that set the United States apart from all previous forms government. It is the principle that unleashed individual creativity and free markets, which launched the spectacular rise of the world's most successful nation.
The idea, and the process by which citizens can reject laws they don't want, simply by replacing the officials who enacted them, makes the ballot box the source of power for every citizen, and the point of accountability for every politician.
When public policy is made by elected officials who are accountable to the people who are governed, then government is truly empowered by the consent of the governed. Sustainable development has designed an administratively, with only symbolic, if any, participation by elected officials and the public. The professionals and bureaucrates who actually make the policies are not accountable to the people who are governed by them.
This is the "new collaborative decisions process," called for by the President's Council on Sustainable Development and is being used to steer communities to a "consensus" of a predetermined goal. Because the policies are developed at the top, by professionals and bureaucrats, and sent down the administrative chain of command to state and local governments, elected officials feel they have little option but to accept them. Acceptance is further ensured when these policies are accompanied by "economic incentives and disincentives." along with lobbying and public relations campaigns coordinated by government-funded non-government organizations not to mention the lobbying efforts of all the other special interests which stand to gain from the new policies.
4) PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHPS.
Today, many freedom organizations are presenting PPPs as free enterprise and a private answer for keeping taxes down by using business to make a better society.
In truth many PPPs are nothing more than government-sanctioned monopolies in which a few business's are granted special favors like tax breaks, the power of eminent domain, non-compete clauses and specific guarantees for a return on their investments. Only those approved by the internationally recognized green building certification system called Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) will survive.
As a result, they can charge what they want and they can use the power of government to put competition out of business. That is not free enterprise and will result in the opposite of economic development. One only needs to look to history with all the jobs that have been sent abroad to see the negative impact on jobs when government selects the winners and losers in business.
5) EDUCATION;
To ensure that sustainability principles will be the new standard for future generations. Since freedom-loving people would never willingly submit to such totalitarian control, education became the "key" to sustainable development. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 called education, Public Awareness, and Training, made clear an intention to integrate Agenda 21 into ALL curriculum as a de facto international education standard.
Education for Sustainable Development began in the US with the No Child Left Behind Act to reinforce the United States' commitment to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO's) goals for education.
Today, President Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) holds states "accountable" to implement their previously signed agreements. States and districts that refuse to "align" their standards, curriculum, and assessments with these so-called "world-class standards" will lose federal funding. NCLB requires full implementation by the end of 2014 - which just so happens to be the final year of The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. What a coincidence!
The US Department of Education carefully insulated themselves from critics of this radical agenda by funding tax-exempt, non-government organizations (NGOs) to do their dirty work. Sometimes an NGO is several layers removed from its true funding source.
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