Agenda 21

We are too late to stop Agenda 21, but not too late to get your city to walk away.  In case you haven’t heard, Agenda 21 is a UN-sponsored global initiative to drive environmental policies to the forefront of city planning, markets, fiscal policy, regulations, etc.  The introduction to Agenda21 (on UN.org) says: Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.

That honestly should be enough to concern conservatives.  More information is provided in the very comprehensive plan.  There isn’t time to list everything, but here are highlights:

Section 1: Social and Economic Dimensions

From the site:  “The international economy should provide a supportive international climate for achieving environment and development goals by: promoting sustainable development through trade liberalization (by the way, sustainable development is mentioned many, many times in Agenda 21), making trade and environment mutually supportive (in other words, the environmental agenda should dominate trade and markets), providing adequate financial resources to developing countries and dealing with international debt, and encouraging macroeconomic policies conducive to environment and development.

Section 2: Conservation and Management of Resources for Development

From the site: “Protection of the atmosphere is a broad and multidimensional endeavor involving various sectors of economic activity.”  It goes on to discuss “addressing the uncertainties” regarding climate change, “promoting sustainable development” (there is that term again), “preventing stratospheric ozone depletion, and transboundary atmospheric pollution.”

Section 3: Strengthening the Role of Major Groups

From the site:  “Critical to the effective implementation of the objectives, policies, and mechanisms agreed to by Governments in all programme areas of Agenda21 will be the commitment and genuine involvement of all social groups.”

Section 4: Means of Implementation

 The site goes into detail about involving various groups, training and education, financial support, different international groups, etc.

The point is, this is a very specific plan meant to promote an environmental agenda at all levels. 

And, it is already in action.

Go to this site and see if your city or town is already working toward this agenda:  http://www.iclei.org/  What is this group?  This is how they describe themselves:  “ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is an association of over 1220 local government Members who are committed to sustainable development.  Our Members come from 70 different countries and represent more than 569,885,000 people. “

So, you may say to yourselves that this doesn’t sound too bad.  The term “sustainable development” is nothing scary.  Well, consider this – the UN has specifically said that those that are implementing Agenda 21 should not refer to that particular moniker:  “Participating in a UN-advocated planning process would very likely bring out many of the conspiracy-fixated groups and individuals in our society such as the National Rifle Association, citizen militias and some members of Congress. This segment of our society who fear 'one-world government' and a UN invasion of the United States through which our individual freedom would be stripped away would actively work to defeat any elected official who joined 'the conspiracy' by undertaking LA21. So, we call our process something else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management, or smart growth.”

But, the essence of what this is – global plan for city development. 

Here part of an article by AmericanThinker:

Undoubtedly, residents of any town, county, or city in the United States that treasure their freedom, liberty, and property rights couldn't care less whether it's called Agenda 21 or smart growth. A recent example of this can be found in Carroll County, Maryland, where a smart growth plan called Pathways was drafted by the County Planning Department. The plan, if enacted, proposed a breathtaking reshuffling of land rights:

• Rezoning of thousands of acres of beautiful, low-density agricultural farmland and protected residential conservation land into office parks
• Down-zoning of agriculture land to prevent future subdivision by farmers
• Up-zoning of low-density residential land around small towns into higher density zoning to permit construction of hundreds or possibly thousands of inclusive housing units, including apartments and condominiums
• Inclusive housing with placement of multi-family construction on in-fill lots within existing residential single family communities
• Endorsement of government-sponsored housing initiatives (subsidies) to ensure healthier, balanced neighborhoods

Carroll County, Maryland is one of 1,168 cities, towns, and counties worldwide that are members of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - Local Governments for Sustainability, which is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. The ICLEI mission statement closely resembles that of Agenda 21. In fact, the ICLEI has Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council and coordinates local government representation in the UN processes related to Agenda 21. 

Community leaders working together in Carroll County recently defended their county against overreaching smart growth initiatives. Richard Rothschild, a candidate for Commissioner, emphatically remarks, "Smart growth is not science; it is political dogma combined with an insidious dose of social engineering. Smart growth is a wedding wherein zoning code is married with government-sponsored housing initiatives to accomplish government's goal of social re-engineering. It urbanizes rural towns with high-density development, and gerrymanders population centers through the use of housing initiatives that enable people with weak patterns of personal financial responsibility to acquire homes in higher-income areas. This has the effect of shifting the voting patterns of rural municipalities from Right to Left."

Smart growth plans usurp property rights and constitutional rights. Local officials, at the behest of State Government, revise zoning laws to fit into a "smart code" zoning template. A massive reshuffling of property rights ensues. Farmers may lose subdivision rights; conservation land adjacent to population centers may be rezoned into commercial employment centers; and low-density land in small towns is re-designated as growth area and rezoned to accommodate diverse housing including high-density apartments and condominiums.

Finally, a healthy dose of federal- or state-sponsored housing initiatives is embraced to ensure communities are properly balanced. The net effect of these plans is to create highly urbanized population centers throughout otherwise-rural counties, while simultaneously limiting the availability of land for suburban and estate subdivisions, as these are considered an unsustainable waste of land by Agenda 21 disciples.

Clearly, smart growth plans will impact Americans' future choices in where and how they live. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal and state agencies may attempt to deny grant funds to states and cities that do not adopt smart growth plans.