Rural  UN-­‐development:  Why?  

 

In  Kentucky,  we  have  mostly  rural  areas.  People  want  good  jobs  to  move  in  and  develop  their  areas.  They  don’t  want  to  have  to  commute  several  counties  away  to  work  a  nice  job.  They  want  to  re-­‐create  self-­‐sufficient  communities  the  way  we  used  to  know  them.  They  beg  legislators  to  remember  them  in  Frankfort,  but  somehow  the  jobs  keep  going  to  the  handful  of  cities  and  more  and  more  people  have  to  move  to  the  cities.  Why?  

Common  names  or  methods  for  rural  UN-­‐development  are  innocent-­‐sounding  programs  that  most  people  support:  

Sustainable  Development  Environmental  Preservation  Endangered  Species  Act  Conservation  Easements  Wetlands,  Road  Removal,  Green  Space,  etc.  

Under  the  guise  of  protecting  the  environment,  many  organizations  and  government  entities  combine  efforts  to  implement  the  United  Nations  (UN)  master  plan  determining  how  all  land  is  used  (including  private  land).  

You  don’t  hear  a  lot  about  “Agenda  21.”  Most  people  don’t  know  where  this  stuff  comes  from  or  what  it  will  do.  If  they  did,    

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  processes  something  else,  such  as  comprehensive  planning,  growth  management  or  smart  growth.  –  J.  Gary  Lawrence,  advisor  to  President  Clinton’s  Council  on  Sustainable  Development  and  to  US  AID  

Agenda  21  is  a  user’s  manual  on  exactly  how  governments  need  to  control  every  aspect  of  life.  Clearly  this  is  not  what  we  in  Kentucky  would  agree  with  on  its  face.  So  a  variety  of  non-­‐government  organizations  are  established  to  divert  our  attention  from  the  true  goal.  

Agenda  21  is  just  one  of  the  key  documents  from  the  United  Nations  containing  the  laundry  list  of  to-­‐do’s  for  us  to  implement.  Therefore,  the  ideas  are  scattered  and  appear  as  a  plethora  of  unrelated  items  implemented  piece  by  piece,  state  by  state.  Classic  examples  of  Agenda  21  in  practice  are  the  spotted  owl  campaign  in  Washington,  sucker  fish  protection  in  Oregon,  land  easements  in  Maine,  road  removal  in  Montana,  and  in  Kentucky,  Lexington’s  River  Walk  project,  KRS  262.902,  coal  emissions  regulations,  and  Vehicle  Emissions  Testing,  to  name  a  few.  

UNDERLYING  FACTORS  

AGENDA  21:  UN  in  Kentucky  and  Other  States  

The  sustainability  movement  basically  scares  people  into  believing  the  earth  will  self-­‐destruct,  the  globe  will  over-­‐develop,  and  species  will  die.  

But  our  country  is  not  overcrowded.  Only  6%  is  developed.  To  the  left  is  a  map  showing  the  classified  “urban  area”  (3%)  by  the  Census  Bureau.  

 Below  is  a  map  showing  proposed  wildlife  areas  (red),  regulated  limited-­‐use  areas  (yellow),  and  normal  human-­‐use  areas  (blue).  Notice  Kentucky  is  nearly  all  regulated  or  non-­‐human-­‐use.  Rural  development  is  the  exact  opposite  of  the  direction  of  this  map.  If  companies  came  into  our  small  counties  and  communities  were  able  to  thrive  once  again,  humans  would  develop  the  areas  that  the  UN  intends  to  un-­‐develop.  

 

Obviously  the  UN  has  no  enforcement  authority  in  Kentucky.  Agenda  21  is  a  recommendation  rather  than  a  binding  treaty,  so  implementation  depends  on  back-­‐door  entry:  

1) Offer  subsidies  or  grants,  contingent  on  adopting  policies  through  regulation.  (Private  “Research  Dollars”)  

2) Provide  “education”  to  professionals  and  academia  to  gain  respected  positions  from  which  plans  and  opinions  can  transform  into  facts  and  figures.  (“Studies”)  

3) Lobby  for/create  regulations  that  make  existing  systems  impossible,  to  where  “voluntary”  submission  is  achieved.  (EPA  is  a  great  example,  see  also  HB  170  from  2013  in  Kentucky)  

 “The  true  foundation  of  republican  government  is  the  equal  right  of  every  citizen  in  his  person  and  property  and  in  their  management.”  –Thomas  Jefferson,  1816    Many  states  have  documented  cases  of  Agenda  21-­‐style  land-­‐clearing.  In  Oregon,  water  was  withheld  from  farmers/ranchers  in  the  Klamath  Basin  to  protect  the  endangered  sucker  fish.  Property  values  plumetted  from  $2500/acre  to  $35/acre.  The  dead  giveaway  was  the  when  the  Oregon  Natural  Resources  Council  offered  to  buy  the  land.  All  those  people  would  be  effectively  moved  off  their  proprties,  but  “voluntarily.”  In  the  end,  there  would  be  more  public  property  and  less  private.  

Decades  ago,  California  began  taking  over  the  management  of  thousands  of  acres  of  rural  wildlands  in  dozens  of  counties  across  the  state.  The  formerly  private  properties  now  form  a  key  part  of  the  state's  network  of  wildlife  refuges.  But  over  the  years  a  problem  arose:  With  the  state  in  control,  some  counties  —  including  Sonoma  and  Lake  —  were  cut  out  of  the  money  that  they  otherwise  would  have  collected  from  property  taxes.  The  state  had  promised  to  compensate  the  counties  for  the  lost  revenue  by  making  payments  in  lieu  of  taxes.  But  since  2002,  with  the  state's  finances  crippled,  that  hasn't  happened.  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/1859613-­‐181/counties-­‐seek-­‐state-­‐payment-­‐for  

 We  have  that  exact  same  problem  in  Kentucky.  With  public  takeover  of  much  eastern  area,  counties  are  effectively  disarmed  due  to  a  lack  of  funds  which  would  naturally  flow  in  the  free  world.  We  are  supposed  to  get  excited  about  more  forests  and  hunting.  If  the  goal  is  to  un-­‐develop,  this  is  progress.  If  the  goal  for  those  people  is  to  be  in  control  of  their  own  lives  in  the  place  they  have  lived  all  their  life,  it  is  a  shame.  In  the  America  we  know,  anyone  is  free  to  live  wherever  they  want.  It  is  un-­‐American  to  buy  into  these  development  schemes.  They  are  simply  control  mechanisms,  which  contradict  our  belief  in  liberty  and  private  property.  

Here’s  what  the  UN  has  to  say  about  private  property:  

Land,  because  of  its  unique  nature  and  the  crucial  role  it  plays  in  human  settlement,  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.  Social  justice,  urban  renewal  and  development,  the  provision  of  decent  dwellings  and  healthy  conditions  for  people  can  only  be  achieved  if  land  is  used  in  the  interest  of  society  as  a  whole.  –  Preamble  to  The  Vancouver  Action  Plan  approved  at  Habitat:  United  Nations  Conference  on  Human  Settlements  (31  May  to  11  June  1976).  

CASE  STUDIES  on  Property  Rights  

The  International  Council  for  Local  Environmental  Initiatives  (ICLEI),  now  called  “Local  Governments  for  Sustainability”  is  an  organization  “helping”  local  governments  all  over  the  world  implement  Agenda  21  guidelines  at  the  local  level.  Member  cities  in  Kentucky  include  Berea,  Frankfort,  and  Lexington-­‐Fayette  County.  (Multiple  other  “green”  groups  have  members  among  our  other  Kentucky  cities,  most  notably  Louisville  and  Owensboro  in  addition.)  

As  stated  earlier,  they  do  not  walk  into  the  room  and  announce  themselves  as  agents  of  the  UN  and  tell  us  what  to  do.  These  are  the  people  creating  the  research  that  convinces  us  they  are  right,  that  the  answer  to  our  world  of  woes  is  more  government  control.  

In  Kentucky,  not  only  do  we  see  a  severe  lack  of  development  in  rural  areas,  but  also  an  escalating  trend  of  urban  development.  Consider  these  bills  from  the  2014  session:  

HB  282:  Defining  “community  development”  and  including  those  definitions  in  a  tax  credit  

HB  376:  Tax  credits  promoting  land  conservation  trusts  (passed  House  97-­‐0)  

HB  541:  Condemnation  of  “blighted  and  deteriorated  properties”  

HB  542:  Expanded  definition  of  “mixed-­‐use  development”  to  allow  more  TIF  projects  (passed  97-­‐2/37-­‐1)  

HB  544:  New  tax  to  fund  mixed-­‐use  development  projects  in  urban  areas  (passed  House  52-­‐40)  

SB  167:  Establish  “Rural  Transportation  Planning  Organizations”  in  Area  Development  Districts  

In  the  economic  situation  we  find  ourselves  in  as  a  state,  with  roads  and  bridges  in  need  of  repair,  being  over  our  heads  in  pension  debt,  and  costs  of  everything  skyrocketing,  why  are  we  making  a  priority  of  manipulating  our  living  quarters?  Productivity  is  the  quality  that  has  made  America  great.  Not  man-­‐planned  public  beauty.  Private  Property  has  always  been  the  only  answer  to  responsible  management,  lest  we  let  any  of  these  rosy  suggestions  cloud  our  conscience.  

HOW  DO  WE  STOP  AGENDA  21  and  other  UN  schemes?  

Because  Agenda  21  or  any  framework  is  just  a  combination  of  items,  the  only  effective  way  to  counteract  it  is  to  understand  the  bigger  picture  behind  all  the  seemingly  miscellaneous  activity,  then  fight  each  item  individually.  Often,  each  part  will  pass  (even  on  consent)  due  to  the  lack  of  understanding  of  what  part  it  plays  to  the  whole.  Once  all  the  parts  are  in  place,  the  game  is  over  and  we  have  effectively  hung  ourselves.  

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” – Ronald Reagan

Urban  Development:  Plans  in  Kentucky