Guest Editorial by Sue Forde
Posted Dec. 6. 2019
Clallam County is moving toward rejoining ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (a subset of Agenda 21-Sustainable Development). At its worksession on Dec. 2, 2019, Commissioner Mark Ozias (D) suggested joining in order to take advantage of a computer program which would “monitor greenhouse gas inventories” in Clallam County. This despite the fact that in 2011, the County terminated its dues-paying relationship with ICLEI after citizens objected to it because it in effect relinquishes control of our government to a global government – the United Nations. ICLEI, according to its document submitted as part of the agreement for Clallam County, states, “ICLEI is the leading global network of more than 1,750 cities, towns and regions committed to building a sustainable future.” Further, it states, “ICLEI is the leading local government network dedicated to sustainability and climate action. For 30 years, we’ve represented the voice of cities and counties on the global stage.” (emphasis added)
And, from the ICLEI.org website: “…we [ICLEI] influence sustainability policy and drive local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development. Our Members and team of experts work together through peer exchange, partnerships and capacity building to create systemic change for urban sustainability.” Here’s another: “ICLEI engages at the local to global levels, shaping policy and sparking action to transform urban environments worldwide.” (emphasis added) See ICLEI’s “Our Vision for a Sustainable World.”
Because Commissioner Bill Peach (R) balked at rejoining, it was decided to move further discussion and a decision back by two weeks. The next discussion will be held at the Worksession on December 16, 2019 at the County Courthouse.
What is a “sustainable future”? Why would our county need to be “represented…on the global stage”? Why would we want to be “influenced” and have “systemic change for sustainability”? Where did these ideas originate? Ours is a sovereign nation, governed as a Constitutional Republic, not socialism or communism, and we have our own local county constitution in the form of the Home Rule Charter. Through programs like ICLEI, the United Nations moves us toward a global socialistic form of government, under the term “a sustainable future.”
Let’s review what happened and why in 2011, when the county previously, under pressure by local citizens, withdrew from ICLEI.
Background: On August 15, 2011, concerned local citizens testified before the Clallam County Board of Commissioners urging a withdrawal from the UN Agenda 21 program called “ICLEI” (UN directing local governments what to do to implement “Sustainable Development” – another word for communism). (See “Understanding Agenda 21“) (Also Backgrounder about ICLEI, UN Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development) The local Republican Party had issued a Resolution alerting county voters about the issue, and then-chairman Dick Pilling presented it into the record at the meeting. (See Resolution for Clallam County to withdraw from ICLEI and UN Agenda 21)
The county did withdraw, and stopped paying the annual dues of $1,200.00 a couple of months later, as a result of the pressure from citizens.
Meanwhile, the ICLEI programs (sustainable development / Agenda 21), have not stopped, as it claims 1,750 local and regional governments are involved, and growing at a rapid rate – at the county level or at the city levels, including Sequim and Port Angeles. Comprehensive plans and bureaucratic rules are loaded with give-away terminology that incorporate Agenda 21 into our everyday lives.
The move to rejoin ICLEI by County Commissioner Ozias brings ICLEI – and Agenda 21 Sustainable Development back into the spotlight.
Agenda 21 Sustainable Development (and with it, ICLEI) threatens our Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms and way of life. So-called “Sustainable Development,” Agenda 21, the Wildlands Project, Agenda 2030, and ICLEI, moves the implementation of the UN plan forward for globalized definitions of property rights, population control, transportation (out of your cars and onto bikes), forbidden human access to land (UN biospheres), higher gas prices, restrictions of water use, and relocating people from rural areas to cities. See nwri.org, for more information.
Sound far-fetched? How about some quotes from those involved in this movement and from their own documents and websites:
Revealing Quotes From the Planners of Sustainable Development – Agenda 21:
“Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by EVERY person on Earth…it calls for specific changes in the activities of ALL people… Effective execution of Agenda 21 will REQUIRE a profound reorientation of ALL humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced… ” Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet (Earthpress, 1993). Emphases – DR
“The realities of life on our planet dictate that continued economic development as we know it cannot be sustained…Sustainable development, therefore is a program of action for local and global economic reform – a program that has yet to be fully defined.” The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, published by ICLEI, 1996.
“No one fully understands how or even, if, sustainable development can be achieved; however, there is growing consensus that it must be accomplished at the local level if it is ever to be achieved on a global basis.” The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, published by ICLEI, 1996.
Agenda 21 and Private Property
“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, therefore contributes to social injustice.” From the report from the 1976 UN’s Habitat I Conference.
“Private land use decisions are often driven by strong economic incentives that result in several ecological and aesthetic consequences…The key to overcoming it is through public policy…” Report from the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, page 112.
“Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable.” Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the UN’s Earth Summit, 1992.
Reinvention of Government
“We need a new collaborative decision process that leads to better decisions, more rapid change, and more sensible use of human, natural and financial resources in achieving our goals.” Report from the President’s Council on Sustainable Development (an executive order by President Clinton)
“Individual rights will have to take a back seat to the collective.” Harvey Ruvin, Vice Chairman, ICLEI. The Wildlands Project
“We must make this place an insecure and inhospitable place for Capitalists and their projects – we must reclaim the roads and plowed lands, halt dam construction, tear down existing dams, free shackled rivers and return to wilderness millions of tens of millions of acres or presently settled land.” Dave Foreman, Earth First, co-founder of The Wildlands Project
What is not sustainable?
Ski runs, grazing of livestock, plowing of soil, building fences, industry, single family homes, paved and tarred roads, logging activities, dams and reservoirs, power line construction, and economic systems that fail to set proper value on the environment.” UN’s Biodiversity Assessment Report.
Hide Agenda 21’s UN roots from the people
“Participating in a UN advocated planning process would very likely bring out many of the conspiracy- fixated groups and individuals in our society… 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.” J. Gary Lawrence, advisor to President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development.
Following is a very concise explanation offered by Kaj Ahlburg’s statement at the time:
ICLEI, under UN, promotes radical changes to consumption patterns, encourages reduction of population in rural areas
Editorial by Kaj Ahlburg (and published as Letter to the Editor in the PDN) Posted 7/2/2011
Clallam County, WA – Clallam County three years ago, largely at the urging of Commissioner Doherty, joined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, or ICLEI. ICLEI promotes an “Earth Charter” with 16 principles that its members are asked to endorse, including “adopt[ing] patterns of production, consumption and reproduction that safeguard Earth’s regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.”
1 ICLEI states that to pursue these goals “We must … pursue more radical solutions” and states that it “will request that our members commit to … radical action”.
2 ICLEI also promotes the UN’s “Agenda 21” and “Habitat Agenda”.
3 Agenda 21 is the UN’s blueprint for so-called sustainable development. Its goals include “changing consumption patterns.” The stated cost of implementing Agenda 21 is $600 billion per year.
4 Agenda 21 also favors “communally and collectively owned and managed land” and “national land-resource management plans.”
5 The Habitat Agenda’s goal is to encourage moving people out of rural areas into cities, to decrease their environmental footprint.
6 You may wonder why a rural County like ours funds with your tax dollars an advocacy organization that wants to change your patterns of consumption, production and reproduction, eliminate local control over land use decisions, and move people out of rural areas into cities.
Let the Commissioners know whether you think our membership in ICLEI should be renewed or canceled. You can write or e-mail the Commissioners, or speak to them every Monday or Tuesday morning at their public meetings.
ACTION CITIZENS CAN TAKE: Contact the County Commissioners and let them know what you think about rejoining ICLEI.
Be sure ask for your statement to be included as testimony by also sending it to the individual responsible for adding to official records,
Send to commissioners at:
rjohnson@co.clallam.wa.us mozias@co.clallam.wa.us bpeach@co.clallam.wa.us
Show up at the next Commissioners meeting on December 10, 2019, and testify about your thoughts on ICLEI.
Recent Comments