Agenda 21: Robert Bentley, Alabama Governor, Refuses To Explain Ban Of UN Sustainability Program
Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, refused to give his reasons for banning the United Nations' Agenda 21 for Alabama. According to Huffington Post, he curtly stated "I am not going to answer that" when asked why he refused this ban. Last month, he signed the enactment which made Alabama the first state in the US to prohibit the environmental treaty. At this time, the treaty does not have authority in the United States.
Agenda 21 has become a hot-button issue to Republicans across the US, but Bentley signed the legislation without providing any reasons whatsoever for this decision. The law forbids local, county, and state governments from adopting programs and policies as part of Agenda 21. This includes laws about property rights. The law states that private property will not be taken by government officials without due process being used. According to wikipedia, due process is "the legal requirement that the state must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person". This is one of Agenda 21 opponents' greatest fears.
Agenda 21 was avowed in 1992 at an international climate change ceremony in Brazil. It has yet to be endorsed by the Senate, but has been approved by every president since its introduction.
As part of the contract, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives was put into action to assist small town governments to execute Agenda 21's sanctions. Among these are the utilizations of solar panels, land use decrees, and bike paths in lieu of motorized vehicles.
The Republican National Committee has spoken out against Agenda 21, along with Tennessee, Kansas, and New Hampshire's state legislations. Earlier in 2012, legislators in the state of Arizona overthrew the decision which opposed the treaty.
During a deliberation of the Kansas House of Representatives, opponents of Agenda 21 alleged that 600 local land-use boards have been pervaded by ICLEI. According to Huffington Post, among their claims was that Agenda 21's "radical agenda" is "destructive to the American way of life". The discussion compared relationships between the treaty and John F. Kennedy's assassination. Kansas Representative Mike Slattery (who is against Agenda 21) called his colleagues "stupid" for even having the debate at all.
The debate in New Hampshire was analogous to the one in Kansas, with the exception of the comparison to the Kennedy assassination. New Hampshire's Representative, Christopher Serlin put it quite succinctly when he said, "Agenda 21 has become one of those issues that the far right has latched on to. It is real tinfoil hat material. It is scary people think this way."