CHAPTER 21, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

(Michigan Taxes Too Much Forum, Wisconsin Free State, Patricia Traeger)

(Traverse City Record Eagle, Townhall.com, Freedom Advocates, Asylum Watch)

(The post Sustainability Institute, Earth Summit Agenda 21, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Sometimes you search for a topic of discussion, and you come across a real whopper, kind of like dropping a baited fish-hook off the end of a dock on a lazy summer afternoon, and you snag a fish the size of your arm. You could drop a line off that same dock a thousand times and you’d come away with the runt of the school, but that thousand and one time, bang, you hook onto that trophy sized big one.

 

Early this past week I was searching for a subject, like that fisherman hoping for the big one, I dropped my line off the dock and wham, I hooked a big one. To be exact, this past Thursday I was skimming the headlines when one caught my eye, Second Leelanau commissioner cites conspiracy theory.

 

Leelanau County, Michigan is almost like a gated community; there are quaint lake-shore villages, Glenn Lake, Leland, Northport, Empire all on Lake Michigan. Further inland, Suttons Bay and Cedar are only a short drive from either inland lakes, or Lake Michigan. Fishing villages, fish markets, cherry orchards, wineries and during the summer season, thousands of tourists make their annual sojourner to the clear blue waters, the scenic vistas which abound at every turn.

 

So you can imagine my surprise when I read a headline in the Traverse City Record Eagle about two Leelanau County commissioners citing United Nations-based conspiracy theory as a reason for killing a jobs-creation plan for the county.

 

Both Debra Rushton and Karen Zemaitis made reference to a United Nations Agenda 21, and buzzwords, and that “words have meaning!” Now being an outsider, the quotes and innuendos got me thinking, and interested…..pretty much because I have never heard of Agenda 21, and the buzzwords that apparently tipped off the two ladies, and their opposition to the planned jobs-creation plans.

 

Doug Luciani, president of the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, and John Hoagland, managing partner of Cherry Capital Foods had made a presentation outlining job creations, and suggested a partnership with the Traverse City EDC to help develop the plan. The plan called for being a “national leader in smart, sustainable development, and to explore job growth in clean applied technologies.

 

The plan required a $25,000 payment from the county spread out over two years to craft a through economic development strategy. The county commission instead killed the idea, than disbanded the county’s long-running economic development corporation.

 

WHAT THE HELL IS AGENDA 21 AND WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH MIDDLE AMERICA

Boogie-men, men in black suits driving Cadillac’s, what in hell is Agenda 21, and do I need to capitalize Agenda, or is it simply agenda? On the surface I thought that the two women were simply frustrated stay at home mom’s until I looked into their allegations and concerns…..and then I got a little concerned, and scared, and began looking over my shoulder. I mean are column 5s back in vogue?

 

Agenda 21 seems to be, on the surface, an all encompassing ideologies on global warming, planned parent-hood, sustained and smart growth, conservation and management of resource development, combating poverty, especially in developing countries, and finally strengthening the role of major groups including the role of children, youth and women, local authorities, business and worker strengthening the role of indigenous peoples, communities and farmers.

 

The Agenda 21 document actually is a 300 page publication that divides into 40 chapters that have been grouped into four sections that detail the hopes for an ordered society that lives in peace harmony and operates under the guidance of the United Nations, or its emissaries. The book was researched, and put together probably over several decades and was published right here in the United States by the United Nations on April 23, 1993.

 

I can find no information that details any updates, so assume that the 300 page paperback to a degree is outdated, because as we all know, people change, situations change, and prevailing thinking from one era to the next is fraught with change, this fact, in my opinion why some portions of our own constitution needs to be amended, or completely changed.

 

The essence of Agenda 21 is to implement much of its four sections and the accompanying 40 chapters into all of the world’s societies, The UN Division for Sustainable Development acts as the secretariat to the Commission on Sustainable Development which acts as a high-level forum on sustainable development.

 

Since the initial the adoption Agenda 21 documents in 1992, where 178 governments voted to include the agenda into their planning.  It has been reaffirmed in 1997, 2002 and 2012, and now boasts and membership of more than 200 (estimate).

 

The process of implementation really into the fabric of society is essentially voluntary so its adoption rate has varied. Implementation although voluntary is non-the-less encouraged at all levels of a country’s local, state, regional and national levels.

 

The United States support is a signatory country to Agenda 21, but because it is not a treaty, the Senate was unable to hold a formal debate or vote on it. Since Agenda 21 is not a treaty, it is not considered to be a law under Article V1 of the U.S. Constitution. Several congressmen and senators, however, have spoken in Congress supporting Agenda 21.

 

There also is an erosion of property ownership, as some ownership rights would be assumed by Agenda 21 overlords. Much like zoning laws that already exist in today’s world, Agenda 21 would enhance the position as landlord of much of America’s property as well as natural resources that are now in the private sector.

 

AND THEN CAME ICLEI

That’s right, I didn’t misspell a word, it’s not ice, its ICLEI, and it stands for International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, and it has to be capitalized. Founded in 1990, it is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. At its inception, the association was established with more than 200 local governments from 43 countries.

 

At its first conference in 1990 at the United Nations in New York City, the 200 local members from 43 countries established a charter for business, and an agenda for their ideals, and a structure to recruit new members. The recruiting effort paid huge dividends as today there are more than 1200 cities, towns, counties and their associations in 70 countries comprising ICLEI membership.

 

 

Headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany, and currently has 200 employees stationed throughout the world at various locations. And unlike Agenda 21, ICLEI understood that with the passing of time, there would be a need for revision of priorities, so in 2003 the group changed their criteria to embrace a broader base of influence.

 

The ICLEI has a much broader agenda and base then does Agenda 21 working with hundreds of local governments through international performance-based, results-oriented campaigns and programs. It provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level.

 

ICLEI basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, regional, national and global sustainability objectives. Objectives are to sustain the environment, natural resources, protect the atmosphere, and to ensure the quality of life for the people of the earth.

 

It is no wonder that ICLEI and Agenda 21 have formed a partnership to better achieve their almost identical objectives. David Cadman is president of ICLEI, while Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations heads up the Agenda 21…..agenda.

 

People are offering opinions about what ICLEI and Agenda 21 might do to all sorts of aspects of life in the United States with regards to economic stability, how we eat, where we live and at what jobs we will work at. I have read both bios’s regarding ICLEI and Agenda 21, and I have to admit that some of the information simply wouldn’t work in present day America.

 

Today in America, we are a somewhat far flung country, with agricultural living, and country lifestyle living by choice. Mass transit, a cornerstone of both ICLEI and Chapter 21 simply do not apply. It would be generations before any type of organized living and Planned Parenthood would be realistically be accepted.

 

I think that the real problem that U.S. citizens would have with either ICLEI or Agenda 21 is the limits that would hinder citizens from owning their own property. Even those people who do not own property have a dream about one day owning a piece of the American dream…..ownership of their own property so that they can pay taxes, buy liability insurance, repair a leaky roof, and buy a water-heater that went kaput.

 

DEBUNKING BOTH ICLEI AND AGENDA 21

Agenda 21, a reference to the 21^st century has been around since 1993, 20 years, little has changed with their premise is to protect what we have…..as a people. I don’t think that there is any big bad idea or a propagation of change, it points to things that have been talked about for a long time, almost George Orwellian.

 

ICLEI seems to be a better facilitator to achieve the goals that many people share today, their agenda addresses a much broader set of questions that…..eventually must be addressed, and dealt with pretty much because the alternative is a reduction of humanity.

 

The argument that opponents of either organization state are, to say the least…..weak, like education, raising public awareness and training by Chapter 21. Education is a bad thing, how can that be, mind control, ya, bad, education…..good.

 

There seems to be opposition to teaching every school to assist in designing environmental activity work plans, with participation of students and staff. Understanding local and regional environmental problems and what could be done to alleviate them.

 

I think, at the present time, it boils down to change…..and we all know how tough change can be, especially change that might alter life as we know it. Whether you agree or disagree with by ICLEI and Agenda 21, you have to admit that both bring provocative thoughts and issues to the table for discussion.

 

In the United States alone every state in the union with the exception of Oklahoma has a minimum of one chapter, and several, New York State, and California have more than 75 cities with ICLEI organizations. Neither group, ICLEI, nor Agenda 21 can be ignored; there simply are too many chapters.

 

As a nation we need to understand what in hell is going on with our society and what options or opportunities that we have, that our children will have, and our grandchildren will be faced with because of the decisions that are made today, and in the future of our kids.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!