Monday, October 3, 2011

“Name one thing I can do on my property without your permission?”

 
Posted by Dr. Rich Swier

There is a growing movement in Florida and across America to address local government control over private property. The movement goes by the name “Agenders”. Agenders have been successful in getting local county and city commissioners to understand what Agenda 21 is and how it impacts individual property owners. Agenders are educating elected officials on how Agenda 21 has been gradually implemented locally by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

The operative words are “sustainable development”.

If you see the words sustainable development (smart growth, sustainability) used by local government officials then they are in fact implementing the ICLEI agenda. ICLEI sustainable development rules are designed to implement globally a new system of justice and a new system of economics, while pretending to use the environment as every society’s central organizing principle.

According to a September 28, 2011 column by Tom DeWeese of NewsWithViews.com, “Plantation, Florida has just voted to NOT renew its ICLEI contract. That’s the eighth community in eight months to take such action. Plantation joins the growing list that includes Carroll County, MD; Amador County, CA; Edmond, OK; Las Cruces, NM; Spartanburg, SC and Albemarle, VA.”

Just because an ICLEI membership is cancelled does not mean that the ideology behind it has gone away.

Many city and county commissioners still hold on to the idea that controlling your and my property is the best way to save the environment. Sarasota, FL has its fair share of these. Tom reports, [T]he following facts are certainly true and need to be understood by all anti-Agenda 21 activists:

1. ICLEI is a UN NGO organization that helped write Agenda 21 for the 1992 Earth Summit and then set, as its mission, to bring Agenda 21 policy to every city in the world.

2. It does this by meeting with local officials, signing contracts with them to set standards for energy and water use, building and development codes, farming policy, etc.

3. It brings in training for city hall staff; soft ware to manage the programs; guidelines for legislation; networking with other communities, other NGO and Stakeholder groups and other agencies of state and federal government.

4. They reach out to other public officials in the communities, including newspaper editors, school superintendents, local college presidents, and chamber of commerce leaders – all designed to assure everyone who helps make decisions and policy in the community are on board.

5. And of course, ICLEI leads the officials to the most important ingredient to impose Agenda 21 – money – grant money that comes with specific strings to guarantee that Agenda 21 is enforced.

So how are Agenders winning the local battle against a well funded and well organized global group like ICLEI?

Tom notes, “[F]ocus on the victims and the impact the policy will have on the well being of the community and you. Question how they intend to enforce the policy (such as having government agents come into your home). Make your officials explain that. They won’t want to. This will show the heavy hand of control required to make the policy work. Put the officials on the defensive over their enforcement efforts and watch them retreat as it’s exposed. The same approach can be used effectively in dealing with plans to put meters on private wells, or in dealing with plans for historic preservation schemes that suddenly disallow private property owners to change or improve anything on their house…”

Finally Tom says the best question to ask your city or county commissioner is the title of this column.

Knowledge is power and understanding what sustainable development really means is critical. Educate, motivate and activate your local elected officials. Ask them to stop the taking of your and my property rights. Instead ask them to protect our unalienable right to do with our property as we, not they, will.

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