AGENDA 21, ICLEI, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, & COMMUNITARIANISM INFORMATION

What is Agenda 21?

Agenda 21 is in short, the United Nations “top down” global plan for complete restructuring of all land use, a control of how and where people live in the entire world along with population control & reduction. To quote their explanation of what Agenda 21 is, we refer to their words from the U.N.’s website:

“Agenda 21 is a centrally planned natural resource management and the management of people through land use, restrictions & requirements.” Their stated goal, is “to preserve resources for future generations, sustainable development, through the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program). In this, all decisions should be based on environmental impact through three main components: 1) Global Land Use, 2) Global Education & 3) Global Population Control & Reduction.”

Brief History

The birth of the term “sustainable development” was introduced to the world in a report called, “Our Common Future”, produced by the United Nations in 1987 by their World Commission on Environment Development which was authored by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, who was the Vice President of the Worlds Socialist Party. The birth of the term, sustainable development was first offered as a “policy” at the 1992’s Rio Earth Summit in a document called, “UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda 21”, now simply referred to as “Agenda 21”. At this Earth Summit, 178 nations signed on to adopt Agenda 21 as an official policy. Each nation pledged to adopt the goals of Agenda 21.

America’s Involvement? At the Rio Earth Summit, President George H W Bush, signed on to Agenda 21 on behalf of the U.S. and from this stemmed a lot of new “buzz words” and some new regulations that mostly went unnoticed and were chalked up to EPA standards etc. Although Congress never authorized the implementation of Agenda 21, in 1995, President Bill Clinton came out with an executive order to create the,

“President's Council on Sustainable Development” (# 12858) with a stated goal to, “harmonize” US environmental policy with UN directives. The real directive of this executive order was to direct ALL federal agencies to work with state and local governments in a joint effort to “reinvent” government using the guidelines in Agenda 21.The President’s Council on Sustainable Development operated through 1999, but its actions to promote sustainable development have taken root and now exert an ever increasing influence in communities across America.

How is sustainable development carried out in local communities?

The way this works in a local community is particularly alarming especially to those who seek governmental accountability. This is also the part that gets tricky for mostpeople to figure out, and by design of course. On a local level, mostly operating within a system of stakeholder councils which are organized to give community members a“stake” in the control over property in their neighborhoods/counties. Proponents of sustainable development systematically promote their own ideas and marginalize any local opposition, especially those who advocate their freedom to use and enjoy “private property.” The product of a stakeholder council, often called a“consensus statement” or a “vision statement”, is typically approved by local governments without question, requiring citizens to submit to the questionable conclusions by a nonelected regional authority that is not accountable to the voters. Stakeholder council meetings are typically arranged under the auspices of soliciting input from community members. A typical stakeholder council meeting is run by a “trained facilitator”. It is not the facilitator’s job to make sure that all views are entered into the “record”. His job is to guide the group to arrive at a predetermined outcome or conclusion. Tactics of facilitators differ but consensus generally is reached by using subtle means to marginalize opposition such as recording only the “good” ideas and allowing for only criticism of the “bad” ideas. A local stakeholder council may also be known under different names such as “industrial
boards” but it’s imperative to know they are not elected officials! Sustainable development projects are often initiated at the directive of NGO’s (Non-governmental organizations) or non-profit organizations as they create fear over problems that are portrayed as a crisis.

Some examples of this are: Farm land being developed, urban sprawl, poor water management, wildlife preservation or traffic congestion or traffic/road related issues.

Once a problem has been identified, every NGO, non-profit, and local government body has a vast stock of sustainability development solutions ready at the helm, provided by the ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives). They are the jackpot of solutions for change agents- enabling them to“identify” problems with the goal of implementing predetermined outcomes that advance sustainable development policies.

What does all this mean, in simple terms? It means that most local communities have in place a nonelected board that can see opportunity with your land, create a crisis with the backing of NGO’s and enforced by federal agencies that are then able to deem land unusable for you, the citizen, but usable for their agenda of sustainable development, aka: LAND GRAB.

ICLEI
ICLEI, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, launched in 1990 at the World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future, is based in Toronto, Canada but has offices around the world. They were instrumental in the development of Agenda 21, having drafted chapter 28, in 1991 in preparation of the World Summit. Essentially, ICLEI claims knowledge of all sustainability issues whether in Stockholm, Boulder or Santa Cruz. Around the world, ICLEI is responsible for communicating with local special interests to translate international policy objectives into local and regional legislation. Every state in America now has sustainable development directives guided by federal agencies, NGO’s and/or ICLEI. The money source for the implementation of sustainable development is impressive. American taxes fund the federal agencies involved and over 2000 NGO’s are given massive tax advantages by the IRS.

Communities in Tennessee that are ICLEI members are:
Chattanooga, Cookeville, Franklin, Gatlinburg, Hamilton Co., Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, Oak Ridge, Signal Mountain. Over 600 cities in the US are members.

Here is a short list of some NGO’S:
(Non-governmental organizations)

~ The Nature Conservancy~
~ The Sierra Club ~
~ National Audubon Society ~
~ American Planning Association ~
~ National Teachers Association ~
~ National Wildlife Federation ~
~ Planned Parenthood ~

Some Federal Agencies Include:
~ Department of State ~
~ Dept. of Interior ~
~ Dept. of Agriculture ~
~ EPA - Environmental Protection Agency~
~ National Park Service ~
~ Fish & Wildlife Service ~
~ U. S. Forest Service ~
~ U. S. Army Corps of Engineers~

Other Important issues to recognize:
~ Sustainable Development is a plan for global control, using land and resource restriction, social transformation through education and other programs.~

~ The land use element of sustainable development calls for the implementation of two action plans designed to eliminate private property: The Wildlands project and Smart Growth. Upon implementation of these plans all human action is subject to control.~

~ The United Nation's stance on private property, in their own words:
“ Land cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes. The provisions of decent dwellings and healthy conditions for the people can only be achieved if land is used in the interest of society as a whole.”

DID YOU GET THAT?!? READ IT AGAIN. THAT STATEMENT IS AT THE HEART OF THE AGENDA 21 PHILOSOPHY AND INITIATIVES.

~ Since all natural resources ultimately come from rural lands, the transfer of the land from citizen control to the government control will make it easy for governments and their partners to control what we have, what we do, and where we live and go. The rural land-use plan of the Wildlands Project is tied to its urban counterpart, Smart Growth. As citizens get barred from rural land, there will be a new concentration of human activity in urban areas. Thus, urban areas are very busy creating new urban infrastructures.~

~ Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) is the subject of Chapter 14 of Agenda 21. The major objective of SARD is to increase food production in a sustainable way and enhance food security. Sustainable agriculture was also the topic in 1997 at the five year review of Agenda 21, at which time governments were urged to attach high priority to implementing the commitments agreed upon at the 1996 World Food Summit, especially the call for at least halving the number of undernourished people in the world by the year 2015. The goal was reinforced at the 2000 Millennium Declaration by heads of state of Governments.~

~ June 9th, 2011, President Barack Obama, signed an executive order #13575 which is The Establishment of the White House Rural Council. Among many things contained in this executive order it states that, “the rural council will coordinate and increase the effectiveness of federal engagement with rural stakeholders, including agricultural organizations, small businesses, education and training institutions, healthcare providers, telecommunications service providers, research and land grant institutions, law enforcement, state, local and tribal governments and non-governmental organizations regarding the needs of rural America.”

Important to mention here regarding the rural council Executive Order is that in no place in it does it even mention the farmer. The rural council has the full backing of 25 federal agencies at its disposal.

~ On Friday, August 19th, 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA has signed an agreement with Rockefeller’s Council of Foundations to, “provide new sources of capital, new job opportunities, workforce investment strategies and identification of additional resources.” The group will work with Obama’s newly created Rural Council, which Tom Vilsack also chairs. Again, this agreement is fully about agriculture & rural America but nowhere does the word rancher or farmer appear. This announcement came while the secretary was hosting a White House Rural Forum at the Iowa State Fair, during the time the President was on a Rural Tour.

~ A short list of what is deemed unsustainable by these initiatives: grazing of livestock, ski resorts, plowing of soil, building fences, industry, single family homes, paved and tarred roads, logging activities, dams & reservoirs, power line construction and economic systems that fail to set proper value on the environment. As established by the UN’s Biodiversity Assessment Report.

Conclusive Note:
In an attempt to abridge all of the information I have gathered through hours upon hours of research pertaining to Agenda 21, I find it hard to leave off here as there are so many other connections that can be presented. This topic is at a point where one must look into the subject matter with urgency and with an open mind to find the facts that either deems all of this untrue or to start to take immediate action to fight against this tyranny. I challenge everyone to read into this subject for themselves and hopefully I have at the very least, given you some places to start. Hopefully too, it should not need to be mentioned that this agenda goes against everything our American foundation and laws are built upon, for if we need spend too much time explaining that, we even have bigger problems than this research suggests. If anyone would like to share their findings or would like further information on my research, I welcome your call.

Call to Action
There is a national coalition gathering in regards to Agenda 21 which has put together a list of solutions that our state and federal representatives need to start to respond to. This information can be emailed directly to each and every legislator but we must educate our government officials about Agenda 21 as there seems to be a large number that have no idea about this topic. We must demand attention in regards to all powers our government has been granted in cutting the ties with the United Nations. This can be implemented through the states 10th amendment rights as well as on a national level through congress and the money trail that is attached to these particular agencies and NGO’s.

To find out if your county or town is involved with any of these types of activities in regards to sustainable development, start with you local mayor and city council. Attend city council meetings and start to listen. Be educated about the topic first and begin to ask questions that pertain to the local level and not the United Nations. Your local officials will know of industrial boards, NGO partnerships, non-profits ECT. in the area that may have their fingers in community decisions but they may or may not see the higher connections. Know that generally, officials are lured by“grants”. It needs to be unraveled a piece at a time so be educated and involved in knowing what is going on with your local government and question any activity that is represented by non-elected "officials”.