American Policy Center » 2009 » May
- The Coming Communist-American Auto Industry
- The Growing American Tyranny and How to Stop It
- The Wrenching Transformation of America – Part 2
- The Wrenching Transformation of America – Part 1
May 29, 2009
By Tom DeWeese
Throughout our history, Americans have been inspired by many patriotic slogans such as “I have not yet begun to fight,” or “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” or “Remember the Alamo.” I don’t believe the nation will find much inspiration in the Obama Administrations new one: “Remember the Yugo!”
Barack Obama promised the “nation of change,” “We cannot, must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish.” Nope. He has other plans. He’s going to build Yugos. Well, Obama is too clever to actually say that, but Yugos will certainly be the result of the anticipated federal take-over of the American auto industry.
Americans should all remember the Yugo- the pride of communist Yugoslavia – the first commie car to endanger American highways back in the 1980’s. Small, affordable and easy on gas- the perfect modern car for our current economic and environmental crisis that the Obama Administration is hell-bent on perpetuating, regardless of economic or scientific fact.
Of course, most Yugos only ran long enough to get off the lot and into the driveway. Those lucky enough to drive them further just had to keep a bucket in the back seat for emergencies – when it was necessary to stop and pick up the parts that flew off when their Yugo hit a pot hole. In short, the Yugo was an international joke because it certainly did showcase the skills of communist workers in an industry controlled by communist bureaucrats.
Now, in the United States, where the car for the masses was born from the genius of Henry Ford’s free market assembly line, Barack Obama and the Democrat Congress have declared themselves the saviors of the American auto industry. They know what Americans need best! They know how to get Americans buying American cars and get the economy going again.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (an auto-making genius) says Americans should drive smaller, more efficient vehicles. And she has the power to pass laws to make us do it – or at least the power to pass laws to make sure Chrysler and GM can only build the cars that Washington wants. And all Nancy and her gang of thugs in Congress have to do is pass stricter emission laws and even Ford, which hasn’t taken the Federal candy, will have to comply. And that saves the auto industry – how?
The whole point of the federal takeover of the auto industry, of course, is to enforce “climate change” restrictions on the industry. The code word is “cleaner” cars. That really means eliminating CO2 emissions to protect us from global warming. And it will be so much more efficient for government to dictate it directly to an industry it now owns than trying to argue with the pesky industry professionals who keep talking about what the buying public wants. Don’t they understand there is a crisis here?
There are, of course, three problems with that plan for the auto industry. First, since the 1970s, the federal government has been dictating emission standards, setting the bar higher and higher until today, American cars literally are so clean that they emit nearly zero pollution, and they can’t get any cleaner or more efficient. Second, the only way for cars to emit less CO2 is for cars to use less carbon-based fuel, and that doesn’t exist. And need we say it again, science is showing more and more evidence that there is no man-made global warming, so no matter how clean the car is made to run, it won’t make any difference and the regulations are completely unnecessary. Third, the American buying public doesn’t want the pesky little cars and won’t buy them. Detroit had better be very worried.
Obama’s scheme is not the first time government has tried dictating small cars to the American public. Back in the 1970s, as a result of Jimmy Carter’s man-made oil shortage, mandates were put out for smaller, more efficient Detroit cars. Remember the Pinto? As a result, all cars got smaller – even Cadillacs. Americans simply couldn’t squeeze their families into the things.
That’s when the environmentalists’ nightmare began. To get around the hated smaller cars, Americans started buying Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs). Back then they were simply called trucks. The old fashioned, market-based Detroit automakers knew a good customer when the saw one and they started improving the trucks to be more family oriented. And the SUV revolution was on.
Today, almost every American family has one. And the government environmentalists hate it. They have been inventing rules and regulations ever since to try to get Americans out of the hated SUVs. They have tried to raise gas prices to make them unusable- didn’t work. They have offered tax incentives to get us to abandon them – didn’t work. So now they have just taken over Detroit. Now they will just dictate the cars Detroit can make.
Get ready America. The Corvette, Chevy Camaro, Dodge Viper, Dodge Challenger R/T, Mustang, Cadillac CTS and the Hummer are all on the Obama chopping block – even though that’s what Americans want to buy. It doesn’t matter anymore. We now have government-controlled industry dictated by those who do everything through political agenda. They have a vision and it looks a lot like the Yugo.
Tom DeWeese is the President of the American Policy Center and the Editor of The DeWeese Report. TThe DeWeese Report is now available online, for more information click here.
Freedom 21 is the next step!
Issued by Tom DeWeese – American Policy Center
The Tea Parties have been held. The protests against the threats of a more powerful government have been made. Americans across the nation have made it clear – they fear our own government and they want to stop its headlong plunge toward totalitarianism. The question for all concerned Americans must be “now what do we do?”
What are the issues that are frightening the American people?
Massive growth of government. Outrageous spending. The growing invasion of personal privacy in a surveillance state. The loss of private property rights. The destruction of our schools. The threat of disarmament of American citizens. And, above all, politicians who won’t listen. Of course these are only a sample of the threats we face – but you get the picture.
So what do we do now? Americans have to learn how to fight back before we can effectively tackle these threats. Where to do that? The immediate answer is the Freedom 21 national conference.
Why? Because there you will learn from the best. Former Presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin (called a potential terrorist by the Missouri State Government); Oklahoma State Senator Randy Brogdon (the man who may be Oklahoma’s next Governor); Larry Pratt (leading the battle to stop gun confiscation); State Rep. Charles Key (the leading force behind the states’ rights sovereignty movement); Marc Morano (the former Senate staffer who has done more to expose the lies behind the global warming swindle than any other American); State Rep. Sam Rohrer (the nation’s leading opponent of Real ID and the creation of an international ID card); and Dr. Jeff Marrongelle (sounding the alarm against government takeover of personal choices in health freedom).
These leaders aren’t just talking heads – they are activists – standing firm and fighting back. All of them will be at Freedom 21 – ready to share their expertise and help train you to fight for your rights.
And they will be joined by the most effective grassroots activists in the nation. Tom DeWeese (one of the nation’s most outspoken property rights advocates); Michael Shaw (the nation’s foremost expert on the dangers of Sustainable Development); Dr. Michael Coffman (global governance expert); Michael Chapman and Allen Quist (two of the nation’s leading experts on the education crisis); Judith McGeary (sounding the alarm on the National Animal Identification System – NAIS); Mark Lerner (the nation’s foremost expert on international ID); Craig Rucker (training students to fight back on college campuses); Dan Byfield (his activism has literally stopped progress on the Trans Texas Corridor); Pat Wood (Editor of The August Review revealing underground efforts to attack and damage freedom groups beyond the Missouri MIAC report and the Department of Homeland Security report) and Amanda Teegarden (her activism on the state level is setting the example for how local activists can fight back).
For ten years Freedom 21 has sounded the alarm, exposing the international agenda that has led to economic meltdown and massive government power. Now the warnings are quickly becoming reality, and Americans want answers. What more can we expect? What can we do? How can we fight back? Again, Freedom 21 will supply the answers.
The 10th Annual Freedom 21 National Conference will be held August 13 – 15, in Oklahoma City, at the Reed Conference Center adjacent to the Sheraton Midwest City hotel. The conference is sponsored by the American Policy Center and Freedom21 Inc. They are joined by 16 co-sponsoring groups, including Eagle Forum, Freedom Advocates, Ed Watch, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, Sovereignty International, American Land Foundation, Stewards of the Range, OK SAFE, American Heritage Research, Gun Owners of America, Camp American, National Center for Constitutional Studies, Institute for Principled Policy, Liberty Coalition, Constitutional Alliance, and The August Review. These eighteen organizations form a loose coalition dedicated to advancing the principles of freedom in the 21st Century.
The message of Freedom 21 is unique to every other conference in the nation. While many try to explain the reasons for the economic crisis and the strife and pain many of us are experiencing, Freedom 21 goes to the very root of the problem. Each of these issues can be traced back to international policy, specifically Agenda 21 and its policy of Sustainable Development – a top down government control operating through non-elected regional governments and planning boards. The entire agenda is based on enforcing climate change policy.
Freedom 21 connects the dots from Agenda 21 to federal policies, like energy, air and water. And the dots connect further to state legislatures and policies like the Trans Texas Corridor and immigration. And they go further to local policies affecting city councils and county commissions as they deal with Smart Growth and development. And there’s more to the agenda, including the radical changes in our public education system and the growing threat of a big brother surveillance society. Americans know something is very wrong in our society, but most don’t understand what it is. No other conference explains it like Freedom 21.
Theme for this year’s conference is “The Growing American Tyranny and How to Stop It.” You will not hear this message at any other conference in the nation. Every concerned American needs to understand the threat we face and to learn how to fight back.
Sign up today to get the $50 early bird savings. Simply go to www.freedom21.org to see the full conference schedule and to register. Or call the American Policy Center at 540-341-8911. If you want to help preserve our nation’s liberty, then Freedom 21 is not only the most important event this year – it’s the critical next step.
Tom DeWeese is the President of the American Policy Center and the Editor of The DeWeese Report. TThe DeWeese Report is now available online, for more information click here.
Ed note: This is the second half of my speech “The Wrenching Transformation of America.” This half contains detailed information about ICLEI, the international NGO that has taken control of more than 400 American communities for the specific purpose of enforcing sustainable development policies. This information is what caused the firestorm in Spokane, Washington where, after my speech, the Mayor admitted that ICLEI was a major player in that community’s policy-making process.
A Speech by Tom Deweese
Perhaps the most egregious action item offered in the Urban Environmental Accords dealt with the topic of water. Action item number 19 called for adoption and implementation of a policy to reduce individual water consumption.
The UN document begins by stating: “Cities with potable water consumption greater than 100 liters per capita per day will adopt and implement policies to reduce consumption by 10% by 2015.” There is no scientific basis for the 100 liter figure other than to employ a very clever use of numbers to lower the bar and control the debate over water consumption.
You must be aware that 100 liters is equal to about 26 GALLONS per person, per day. According to the UN, each person should have less than 26 gallons each day to drink, bathe, flush toilets, wash clothes, water lawns, wash dishes, cook, take care of pets, and more.
But, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, Americans actually need about 100 GALLONS per day to perform these basic life functions. The use of the 100 liters number versus 100 gallons is a direct attempt to mislead and actually cut water use by 75%.
Consider also that there is no specific water shortage in most parts of the United States. Water is not an international issue – it is a very local one.
Perhaps the most outrageous promise of action by the mayors is action item number 16, in which they agreed to, “Every year, identify three products, chemicals, or compounds that are used within your city that represents the greatest risk to human health and adopt a law or eliminate their sale and use in the city.”
There you have it. The mayors had to promise to ban something every year. That’s the UN’s version of a free society.
But here are some questions for the mayors. What if there isn’t a “chemical or compound” that poses a risk? What if the community actually needs them? What if jobs are at stake? What about private property or free enterprise?
Not a consideration. The mayor has gotta ban something anyway – he signed an agreement. That’s not to be taken lightly, with environmental protection at stake.
Consider this bit of real life insanity as an example of how serious it can get. In the 1990s, Anchorage, Alaska had some of the most pristine water in the nation. It literally had no pollution.
Yet, because of government-mandated clean water standards, the federal government ordered the city to meet strict federal rules that required the city to remove a certain percentage of pollution for its water. The city simply couldn’t do it because there wasn’t that amount of pollution to be removed. But the government insisted that the law be upheld – no exceptions.
Therefore, in order to meet the federal requirements (and avoid huge fines or jail terms) Anchorage city officials were forced to pollute its pristine water by dumping fish parts into it so they could then clean out the required quota.
So, it is not far fetched to say that, if your mayor has to ban the ink in your fountain pen to meet his quota – ban it he will.
Again, the UN’s meeting with the mayors took place in 2005. Today in 2009, what are the consequences? Plenty.
Many Americans ask how dangerous international policies can suddenly turn up in state and local government, all seemingly uniform to those in communities across the nation and around the globe.
The answer – Meet ICLEI, a non-profit, private foundation, dedicated to helping your mayor implement all of his promises.
Originally known as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), today the group simply calls itself “ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.”
In 1992, ICLEI was one of the groups instrumental in creating Agenda 21. The group’s mission is to push local communities to regulate the environment – and it’s having tremendous success.
According to a report published by the Capital Research Center, ICLEI is now operating in more than 400 cities in 48 states (excluding Hawaii and South Dakota). The group is shooting for 1,000 member cities in the next three years. ICLEI is there to assure the mayors keep their promises and meet their goals.
Climate change, of course, is the ICLEI mantra. ICLEI’s programs are designed to decrease each city’s “carbon footprint,” no matter what it costs the taxpayers. Here’s just some of the programs ICLEI provides cities and towns, in order to spread their own particular political agenda in the name of “community services” and environmental protection:
They include: Software products and associated training to help set the goals of “greenhouse gas” reductions;
Access to a network of experts, newsletters, conferences and workshops – to assure the indoctrination of city employees is complete;
Toolkits, online resources, case studies, fact sheets, policy and practice manuals, and blueprints used by other communities – so you know you are not alone;
Training workshops for staff and elected officials on how to develop and implement the programs –Wanna bet they never seem to mention that thousands of scientists around the world now say man-made global warming is a myth and none of these programs are necessary? Probably doesn’t make it into the workshop;
And, there’s Notification of relevant grant opportunities – this is the important one – money – with severe strings attached;
As the Capital Research Center’s report says, “Local governments gratefully outsource their work to ICLEI, which even offers hiring advice. They recommend that the community hire A full time “sustainability manager,” who, even in small towns, can devote 100% of his time to assure that every nook and corner of the government is on message.
As I said, it’s not about protecting the environment; it’s about reinventing government with a specific political agenda. ICLEI and others are dedicated to controlling your locally elected public officials to quietly implement an all encompassing tyranny over every community in the nation.
The United States is not a global village run by elders who hand down the rules from on-high. We are a nation of governments elected by the citizens.
There is supposed to be discussion, debate and disclosure so that all citizens know where, when and why a law or regulation is being presented – and then we are to vote on it.
However, global forces which do not accept the unique American form of government sneak behind the curtain, avoiding controversy and honest debate.
They target unknowing local officials, wine and dine them, and blind them with power and influence. The only possible result can be the tyranny of a powerless electorate stripped of their rights, property, and self determination.
Mayors across the nation must be clued into the fact that ICLEI and its ilk are not their friends, rather the purveyors of a self-made crisis hysteria using fear rather than truth and logic to impose their agenda of top down control. Sustainable Development.
The entire agenda of Sustainable Development is based on the argument of man-made climate change – global warming.
But, if there is no man-made global warming, as true science is now beginning to prove, then there is no need for the policies that are locking away our natural resources, forcing reduction of our use of energy, and shutting down industries like timber and mining.
We all want a clean environment. That’s why the United States has spent more than a trillion dollars on environmental clean up. The fact is we have the cleanest air and water in the world. We have a national commitment to a clean environment.
But everything we do to sustain our lives has an impact on nature. The fact is, for a positive, happy life, a big “environmental footprint” is an enormous positive. It means better roads and computers, new factories and power plants and hospitals to assure a better life.
Frankly, if you have no carbon footprint you are dead. But to the environmentalist, the size of your “footprint” is a measure of your guilt.
I will say it again and again – the policies of climate change and Sustainable Development are not about a clean environment, conservation or good stewardship. They are about the politics of control.
Under Sustainable Development there is no private property, no individual liberty and no free enterprise. Period.
So, as I said, when you ask your elected officials where they now stand on the issue of climate change, their answers will truly tell you what they are really after.
In the name of conservation, we are experiencing a wrenching transformation of our nation, into what can only lead to a new dark ages of pain and misery. What we are dealing with today is not politics as usual. It’s insanity.
Elected officials can no longer play ignorant about this policy. It is their duty to represent the people and protect them from these piranhas that are devouring our way of life. To save it you must now take action. And understand that the main battle is being fought, not in congress, but on the local level. Right here.
So, if a local politician utters the words “sustainable” or “community visioning” — or looks at your rural neighborhood home — scoffing about urban sprawl – he or she is your enemy. Rip their political careers out by their rotted roots. Fire any official who even suggests the creation of non-elected commissions, or boards. Stop efforts to create regional governments and leave your political boundaries alone. Above all, refuse federal or state money or new sustainable programs and get rid of the old ones.
And if ICLEI is now running things in your town – throw them out! Stop payment of dues, disband anything they have built and start looking for some high grade tar and feathers. Nameless, faceless bureaucrats wielding power in the backrooms, untouchable and unseen, is not freedom.
This is not a friendly political debate. This is the battle to determine nothing less than the future of our free society.
But, please know: in spite of all I’ve told you tonight, the situation is not hopeless. There is opportunity today like never before to expose these very dangerous policies and to fight back.
The economic meltdown that we are experiencing has been brought on in no small part by Sustainable policies. $4 per gallon gas this past summer helped to awaken a lot of Americans.
They are mad and many are ready to finally listen to our message of freedom. They want change and we are the only ones offering it. Now is our time.
But you cannot win this battle if you don’t understand that what you face is not a bunch of random issues — but a complete agenda of control.
We must understand that the so-called environmental agenda is based on lies and deceit – that Sustainable Development is truly a Trojan horse for a policy of tyranny and that it is the exact opposite of limited government, free enterprise and individual liberty.
And if you believe in those ideals then know that Sustainable Development is your enemy, no matter what form it takes. And fight it wherever it raises its ugly head.
Finally, we must organize. Too many of us are satisfied to simply write a letter, make a phone call or participate in a local rally about an issue. Then go home and think we’ve done our part.
The other side simply waits until you leave and then goes ahead with the plan. That’s why we lose.
I am constantly hearing from activists about how hopeless their fight is because elected officials just won’t listen. No matter how hard they work – it’s all for nothing. That’s because we have accepted the premise that we can do nothing to get rid of those officials. Bunk.
Our Founding Fathers gave us a Silver Bullet for victory – but we seldom use it. It is still there – rusting under this massive government machine. The silver bullet is called precinct captain – local organization in the neighborhoods.
Today – now — before the next election — is the time to organize your neighborhood. Learn who is most likely to vote for your candidate – those who are willing to work.
Do it today and in the next election, put that organization to work. Literally herd our people into the polls and assure victory. It is a massive job – the other side has already done it. That’s why they win. If we don’t create a local structure, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will never beat them. But it works – if we start now.
Make it your goal to get rid of those elected officials who won’t listen. Make them pay for their actions. Do it just a couple of times and you will see a fast change of attitude by the rest.
Together, if we stand vigilant, if we speak the truth, and don’t allow it to hide in some political double speak – if we stand by our principles – because we are right – we can – and we will – take America back.
Tom DeWeese is the President of the American Policy Center and the Editor of The DeWeese Report. TThe DeWeese Report is now available online, for more information click here.
Ed note: this speech was delivered in Kalispell, Montana and Spokane, Washington to County Republican Lincoln Day dinners in late March. The speech caused a firestorm in Spokane, resulting in a battle with the local city council over it’s partnership with ICLEI and radical environmental policy. One elected official said I had exposed too much – as he walked out on my presentation. The battle goes on today.
A Speech by Tom Deweese
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve come a long way to get here and I have such a short time to be with you. So, let’s just get everything out on the table right now, shall we?
I believe the American people, and their every action, are being ruled, regulated, restricted, licensed, registered, directed, checked, inspected, measured, numbered, counted, rated, stamped, censured, authorized, admonished, refused, prevented, drilled, indoctrinated, monopolized, extorted, robbed, hoaxed, fined, harassed, disarmed, dishonored, fleeced, exploited, assessed, and taxed to the point of suffocation and desperation.
America is drowning in a sea of rules and regulations, particularly under the guise of “saving the environment.”
We all know something is very wrong and we are trying to fix it.
Many in America attempt to fight against one issue or another as they try to understand what is happening to their country. But most fail to see the whole picture and are being crushed under a well organized “divide and conquer” tactic that keeps them reeling from crisis to crisis.
Tonight, I’m going to try to give you at least a peek at the all-encompassing, gut wrenching national transformation that we face — and, hopefully, help to lift the veil of confusion.
To put things in perspective, here are some questions every American should ask their elected officials – especially those supporting “climate change” legislation.
If it is proven that climate change is not man-made, but natural, will you be relieved and excited to know that man is off the hook?
We’ve been terrorized into accepting that human society was on the brink of extinction because of man-made global warming. We’ve been warned that, unless we take drastic action to reverse it – then islands will disappear, whole cities will be destroyed and polar bears will drown.
So, if it’s not true, will you now help to remove all of the draconian regulations passed during the global warming hysteria? Will you help to restore our Republic with common sense and sound economics?
Their answers to these questions should be very illuminating as to the true agenda they seek to impose.
If they are supporting climate change legislation because of a genuine concern for the environment, then they should now be greatly relieved to know that true science is showing more and more evidence that there is no man-made global warming, and in fact, a natural cooling period has begun.
I have just returned from one of the most important Climate Change conferences ever held. Sponsored by the Heartland Institute, more than 700 scientists from all over the world came together to testify that man-made Global Warming does not exist.
Harvard scholar and climate scientist Willie Soon said it best in a recent article he titled, “It’s the Sun, stupid.”
Dr. Mark Campbell, professor of chemistry at the U.S. Navel Academy in Annapolis recently wrote, “The sky is not burning, and to claim that it is amounts to journalistic malpractice.”
Said U.S. Government atmospheric scientist Stanley B, Goldenberg, “It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.”
In the past year, more than 650 scientists from around the world have expressed their doubts. That’s 12 times the number of UN IPCC global warming alarmists.
Top that with the fact that more than 31,000 American scientists have signed a petition saying there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing disruption of the Earth’s climate.
Of course most of the hysteria has been fueled by Al Gore’s Oscar-winning, Nobel prize-winning film “An Inconvenient Truth,” which almost every American school student has been forced to watch endless times in their classroom.
Well, guess what, the government of Great Britain just ruled that the film cannot be shown in English classrooms unless it carries a disclaimer that says the film is full of mistakes and propaganda.
An overwhelming majority of scientist are now telling us that investigative research shows any warming actually stopped in 1999. And, in fact, they say the brief warming period we experienced in the past decade was completely natural, caused in part by storms on the sun, not CO2 emissions from SUVs.
The Sun storms have ended and now a cooling period has begun.
That’s it. Done. Crisis over. Man is not to blame. Hurray! The nation should be rejoicing.
No need for expensive green cars, mercury-filled light bulbs, special home building materials, expensive alternative energy, no bird-killing windmills, no special energy taxes, no extra government oversight committees, no more global climate change conferences – and no need for a Climate Czar. Carol Browner can go back into mothballs.
We can finally clean out the ten feet of fuel on the bottom of the forests and prevent the massive forest fires. We can reestablish the timber industry and all the jobs that were killed.
We can drill American oil and end our dependency on foreigners who hate us. In fact, that stable source of energy will help restore the Detroit auto industry and all of those jobs. And it will help us to stop funding terrorists. What’s not to like about drilling American oil?
We didn’t need a stimulus package after all – the economy will rebound on its own. We are free. The environment is not in crisis. Rejoice! Rejoice!
That silence you hear is the news media, which refuses to report what any skeptic has to say.
That silence you hear is the lack of effort on Capitol Hill to start to pull back from the climate change hysteria.
That silence you hear is from the White House where President of Change, Barack Obama now has an EPA director, a Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) director and a full blown Climate Change Czar, all working to impose huge cut backs in energy use, with more taxes, and more rules and regulations that will bring an already damaged economy to its knees – all in the name of man-made Global Warming – which doesn’t exist.
…And that silence you hear is from global corporations which have bought into Al Gore’s lie and invested heavily in the promised green economy. In fact, their dollars are the only thing green about any of it. Their commercials are promoting the lies and changing our way of life. “Going Green” is the mantra of the day. None of them are about to change any of these policies, simply to accommodate a few inconvenient scientific facts.
In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, in spite of literally thousands of real scientists joining the ranks of the skeptics, Gore just told Congress that the Global Warming crisis is even worse than predicted. Obama, our newly crowned king said, “The science is settled.”
Why do they continue to promote a lie? Because global warming never was about protecting the environment. It’s nothing more than the excuse to enforce global governance on the planet by creating a new global economy based on the environment rather than on goods and services.
In fact, the most important debate in the history of the United States is about to begin – it’s the battle over a completely new economic system based on Climate Change called Cap and Trade.
It should be called Tax and Trade as it will force up the price of every item created or run by energy from gasoline to toothpaste to natural gas to hotel rooms, as we sit in our cold, dark homes.
Cap and Trade will throw out the old system of a free market based on goods and services and operate on the idea that CO2 is a pollutant. Instead of money, wealth will be determined by how many government-issued emission permits you own to allow you to operate your business.
In short, it’s all about wealth redistribution. Your wealth into a green rat hole.
During the Cold War, communists tried to get us to surrender our liberties and way of life for the wisdom of Karl Marx. Americans didn’t buy it.
But now, they have taken the same clap trap and wrapped it all in a nice green blanket, scaring us with horror stories about the human destruction of the environment – and so we are now throwing our liberties on the bon fire like a good old fashioned book burning — all in the name of protecting the planet.
It sounds so friendly. So meaningful. So urgent. But, the devastation to our liberty and way of life is the same as if Lenin ordered it.
You know, we have a new language invading our government at all levels. Old words with new meanings fill government policy papers. The typical city council meeting discusses “community development,” “historic preservation,” and “partnerships” between the city and global corporations.
Civic leaders organize community meetings run by “facilitators,” as they outline a “vision” for the town, enforced by “consensus.” No need for debate when you have consensus!
People of great importance testify before congressional committees of the dire need for “social justice.”
Free trade, social justice, consensus, global truth, partnerships, preservation, stakeholders, land use, environmental protection, development, diversity, visioning, open space, heritage, comprehensive planning, critical thinking, and community service are all part of our new language.
What are they really talking about? What mental pictures come to mind when those words are used? George Orwell realized that those who control language and manipulate key phrases can control policy.
The language is being changed and manipulated to quietly implement a very destructive policy. One outlined in a UN soft-law document called Agenda 21, first revealed at the UN’s Earth Summit in 1992. The working name is Sustainable Development.
Rather than good management of resources, Sustainable Development has come to mean denied use and resources locked away from human hands. In short, it has become a code word for an entire economic and social agenda.
I have spent most of the past 12 years studying every facet of this new political agenda which is fast becoming a revolution — touching every aspect of our businesses, our public education system, our private property, our families and our individual lives.
Interestingly, it is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It’s not liberal or conservative. It is being implemented on a purely bipartisan basis.
It is now the official policy of the United States, put in force by literally every department of the government.
It is the official policy of every state government, and nearly every city, town and county in the nation.
But, I warn you, accepting the perception that Sustainable Development is simply good environmental stewardship is a serious and dangerous mistake.
So what is Sustainable Development? The Sustainablists insist that society be transformed into feudal-like governance by making nature the central organizing principle for our economy and society.
To achieve this, Sustainablist policy focuses on three components; global land use, global education, and global population control.
Keep in mind that America is the only country in the world based on the ideals of private property. But, private property is incompatible with the collectivist premise of Sustainable Development.
If you doubt that, then consider this quote from the report of the 1976 UN’s Habitat I conference which said: “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 principle instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth, therefore, contributes to social injustice.”
It is a social injustice for some to have prosperity if others do not. It is a social injustice to keep our borders closed. It is a social injustice for some to be bosses and others to be merely workers.
Social justice is a major premise of Sustainable Development. Another word for social justice, by the way, is Socialism. Karl Marx was the first to coin the phrase “social justice.”
Some officials try to pretend that Sustainable Development is just a local effort to protect the environment — just your local leaders putting together a local vision for the community. Have you heard that one?
Then ask your local officials how it is possible that the exact language and tactics for implementation of Sustainable Development are being used in nearly every city around the globe from Lewiston, Maine to Singapore. Local indeed.
Sustainable Development is the process by which America is being reorganized around a central principle of state collectivism using the environment as bait.
The best way to understand what Sustainable Development actually is can be found by discovering what is NOT sustainable.
According to the UN’s Biodiversity Assessment Report, items for our everyday lives that are NOT sustainable include: 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 (capitalism, free markets).
Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the UN’s Rio Earth Summit in 1992 said, “…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.”
Are you starting to see the pattern behind Cap and Trade, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and all of those commercials you’re forced to watch about the righteousness of Going Green?
And one of the most destructive tools they use to force it on us is something called the “precautionary principle.” That means that any activities that might threaten human health or the environment should be stopped — even if no clear cause and effect relationship has been established – and even if the potential threat is largely theoretical.
That makes it easy for any activist group to issue warnings by news release or questionable report and have those warnings quickly turned into public policy – just in case.
So how is this wrenching transformation being put into place?
There are four very specific routes being used.
In the rural areas it’s called the Wildlands Project.
In the cities it’s called smart growth.
In business it’s called Public/Private Partnerships.
And in government it’s called stakeholder councils and non-elected boards and regional government.
The Wildlands Project was the brainchild of Earth First’s Dave Foreman and it literally calls for the “re-wilding” of 50% of all the land in every state – back to the way it was before Christopher Columbus set foot on this land. It is a diabolical plan to herd humans off the rural lands and into human settlements. Crazy you say! Yes. Impossible? Not so fast.
From the demented mind of Foreman, the plan became the blueprint for the UN’s Biodiversity Treaty. So now the scheme is international in scope.
But how do you remove people from the land? One step at a time. Let’s begin with a biosphere reserve. A national park will do. A huge place where there is no human activity. How about Yellowstone National Park? Then you establish a buffer zone around the reserve. Inside the buffer only limited human activity is allowed. Slowly, you squeeze until you squash that human activity.
Once accomplished, you extend the area of the biosphere to the limits of the former buffer area – and then you create a new buffer zone around the now larger biosphere and start the process over again. In that way, the Biosphere Reserve acts like a cancer cell, ever expanding, until all human activity is stopped.
And there are many tools in place to stop human activity and grow the reserve.
Push back livestock’s access to river banks on ranches. 300 feet ought to do it. When the cattle can’t reach the stream, the rancher can’t water them — he goes out of business.
Lock away natural resources by creating national parks. It shuts down the mines — and they go out of business.
Invent a Spotted Owl shortage and pretend it can’t live in a forest where timber is cut. Shut off the forest. Then, when no trees are cut, there’s nothing to feed the mills and then there are no jobs, and — they go out of business.
Locking away land cuts the tax base. Eventually the town dies. Keep it up and there is nothing to keep the people on the land – so they head to the cities. The wilderness grows – just like Dave Foreman planned.
It comes in many names and many programs. Heritage areas, land management, wolf and bear reintroduction, rails to trails, conservation easements, open space, and many more.
Each of these programs is designed to make it just a little harder to live on the land – a little more expensive – a little more hopeless. Now tell me how they can deny that the process is herding people into human habitat areas?
Today, here in your area, one of the latest Wildlands scheme is called Yukon to Yellowstone or Y2Y — a 2000 mile no-man’s land corridor from the Arctic to Yellowstone.
The second path is called Smart Growth. After they herd you into the city, they have more plans for you in regimented and dense urban communities. They put a line around the city and tell you no growth can take place outside that line. Urban sprawl, they say disdainfully.
They refuse to build more roads as a ploy to get you out of your car into public transportation, restricting mobility. Those able to build apartment houses may find it impossible to provide parking – we don’t want any stinking cars!
Because there is a restriction on space inside the controlled city limits there is a shortage of houses, so prices go up. That means populations will have to be controlled, because now there is a shortage of land.
Third, inside the human habitat areas, government is controlled by an elite ruling class called stake holder councils.
These are mostly Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, who, like thieves in the night, just show up to stake their claim to enforce their own private agendas.
The function of legitimate government within the system will be simply to enforce the dictates of the councils.
The councils are unelected, but all powerful. They are controlled by a small minority in the community. They will make you ask permission for anything necessary to live in the community. They can dictate the kind of building materials you may use in your home – or whether you can build on your property at all.
Then, if they do grant a permit for building, they might not decide to let you acquire water and electricity for your new home – and they may or may not give you a reason for being turned down.
They can even dictate that you get the proper exercise – as determined by the government. San Francisco has built a new federal building – the greenest ever built. But the elevators will only stop on every third floor so riders are forced to use stairs – for their own health, of course.
These councils fit almost perfectly the definition of a State Soviet: a system of councils that report to an apex council and then implement a predetermined outcome. Soviets are the operating mechanism of a government-controlled economy.
The fourth path is Public/Private Partnerships. Today, many freedom organizations are presenting PPPs as free enterprise and a private answer for keeping taxes down by using business to make a better society.
In truth, many PPPs are nothing more than government-sanctioned monopolies in which a few businesses are granted special favors like tax breaks, the power of eminent domain, non-compete clauses and specific guarantees for return on their investments.
That means they can charge what they want and they can use the power of government to put competition out of business. That is not free enterprise. And it is these global corporations that are pushing the green agenda.
For example, using government to ban its own product, General Electric is forcing the mercury-laden green light bulb on you, costing 5 times the price of incandescent bulbs. Such is the reality of green industry.
PPPs are building the Trans Texas Corridor, using eminent domain to take more than 580,000 acres of private land – sanctioned by the partnership with the Texas government.
And PPPs are taking over highways and local water treatment plants in communities across the nation. It is not free enterprise, but a Mussolini-type fascism that will only lead to tyranny. And it’s all driven by the Agenda 21 blueprint of Sustainable Development.
Truly, Sustainable Development is designed to change our way of life. Local communities are now being targeted by international forces. Here’s how.
In June 2005, I reported on the UN’s efforts to recruit the nation’s mayors to directly impose Sustainable Development policy into our local communities. The mayors were invited to attend the UN’s World Environment Day conference in San Francisco.
The mayors weren’t there to simply discuss policy, they actually committed to an agenda with specific goals. As part of their participation, the mayors were pressed to commit to specific legislation and policy goals by signing a slate of UN accords. Two documents were presented for the mayors’ signature.
The first document was called the Green Cities Declaration, produced by the United Nations Environment Programme. This document was essentially a statement of principles which set the agenda for the mayors’ assigned tasks.
The Declaration is amazingly bold in that it details exactly how the UN intends to implement a very specific agenda in every town and city in the nation. The final line of the Declaration explained the UN’s goal very explicitly: Each year cities shall pick three actions to adopt as policies or laws.”
The second document signed by the mayors was called the “Urban Environment Accords.” The document includes exactly 21 specific actions (as in Agenda 21), for the mayors to take — controlled by a time table for implementation.
For example, under the topic of energy, action item number 1 called for the mayors to implement a policy to increase the use of “renewable” energy by 10% within seven years. Energy action item numbers 2 and 3 dealt with reducing energy consumption.
These action items are classic examples of the UN trying to go around the U.S. Congress and federal energy policy and force a backdoor implementation of the UN’s Kyoto Accord, which the U.S. has never ratified.
Perhaps the most egregious action item offered in the Urban Environmental Accords dealt with the topic of water. Action item number 19 called for adoption and implementation of a policy to reduce individual water consumption.
The UN document begins by stating: “Cities with potable water consumption greater than 100 liters per capita per day will adopt and implement policies to reduce consumption by 10% by 2015.” There is no scientific basis for the 100 liter figure other than to employ a very clever use of numbers to lower the bar and control the debate over water consumption.
You must be aware that 100 liters is equal to about 26 GALLONS per person, per day. According to the UN, each person should have less than 26 gallons each day to drink, bathe, flush toilets, wash clothes, water lawns, wash dishes, cook, take care of pets, and more.
Tom DeWeese is the President of the American Policy Center and the Editor of The DeWeese Report. TThe DeWeese Report is now available online, for more information click here.
