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By Henry Lamb May 12, 2008 Page 2 of 2 President Clinton eagerly followed this recommendation with the creation -- by Executive Order -- of the President's Council on Sustainable Development. This group of cabinet-level appointees, and heads of major environmental organizations, quickly translated Agenda 21 into Sustainable America: A New Consensus. This document "Americanized" Agenda 21 and set forth hundreds of policy recommendations to bring the nation into compliance with what the international community defined as "sustainable." Most of these policies have been implemented administratively. In fact, Congress has never debated, nor approved either of these documents. The agencies of government whose leaders constituted the PCSD, provided grants to non-government organizations, and to state and local governments to expand the concept of sustainable development to local communities. The rash of "visioning councils" that spread across the nation in the 1990s were funded and coordinated by agencies of the federal government through what was called the "Smart Growth Network." This is a network of dozens of NGOs, many of which were also funded by the federal government, and some of which served on the PCSD. One of the NGOs, the American Planning Association, received nearly $4 million in grants to produce Smart Growth: Legislative Guidebook. This publication provided three "model bills," and two "model executive orders," for use by state governments. These "model" bills provided the legal language for the statutes and ordinances necessary to give the force of law to government in order to impose the principles of sustainable development. In communities across the nation, individuals are discovering that their property rights have evaporated. Government now routinely dictates such things as how tall grass may be allowed to grow, what color houses may be painted, where they may -- and may not -- be located, and what kind of landscape vegetation may be planted. And this is just the beginning of sustainable development. The more people learn about sustainable development, the more they realize that it is a tidal wave washing away their freedom. --- Henry Lamb is the Chairman of Sovereignty International , and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO). -------------------- Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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