Exposing the Influence Behind the Anti-Agenda 21 Anti-Sustainability Agenda
By definition, Agenda 21 is a voluntary, non-binding a plan of action proposed by the United Nations related to sustainable development. It is a wide-ranging blueprint of action which is applied locally, nationally, and globally by the government, UN, and other groups in which humans directly affect the environment. What is sustainable development, you might ask? According to the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations, it is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
So, why are politicians from the Republican party, state governments, and presidential candidates (i.e. Newt Gingrich) making such a big deal about such a harmless, inoffensive concept?
According to Robin Rather, CEO of an organization called “Collective Strength”, the concept of Agenda 21 is “highly manufactured”, or created based on information which is untrue. She also claims that the campaign is not of interest to those who are not trying to safeguard the continued use of fossil fuel. She warns that it is designed to “prey on” fears that people already have about their property and homes.
You may be asking yourself, “How does this affect me?” Arthur Thompson of the John Birch Society, a political advocacy group that supports limited government and personal freedom, warns that Agenda 21 seeks to reduce people’s freedom to travel as they wish, live in rural or suburban areas, own a car, or even raise a family. And Agenda 21 may be making its way into our local communities, already threatening to dismantle our way of living.
So the question at hand is “How do we the people oppose Agenda 21?” For the most part, Americans seem to believe that options such as bike lanes threaten the use of cars, simply by giving people a travel alternative. A starting point would be to re-examine this point of view and consider what is more eco-friendly, rather than what is “ideal” to large oil companies.