Regional debate over Agenda 21 intensifies
SSentinel.com
Regional debate over Agenda 21 intensifies
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by Tom Chillemi
There is a growing movement in opposition to “sustainable development” as adopted by the United Nations Agenda 21.
According to Wikipedia, Agenda 21 is an action plan of the United Nations (UN) related to sustainable development. It is a comprehensive blueprint of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the UN, governments, and major groups in every area in which humans directly affect the environment.
Supporters of Agenda 21 understand sustainable development to mean improving living standards and protecting the environment.
Opponents see it as a way to “control behavior, control land use and destroy capitalism,” said Tricia Stall of Mathews, spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of the Middle Peninsula (CCMP).
MPPDC Meeting
During the January 25 meeting of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (MPPDC) in Saluda, Stall was not permitted to report on a recent meeting of the CCMP concerning climate change and Agenda 21. During the public comment period, Stall and three other would-be speakers were asked to sit down. Stall, however, got into a verbal confrontation with MPPDC chair Louise Theberge, who recessed the meeting.
A Middlesex deputy sheriff was summoned, but by then Stall had quieted down. She eventually made her comments to the press outside of the building.
Public comments during a meeting are not required by law, said Lewis Lawrence, acting director of the MPPDC. However, the commission allows public comments based on its policy, adopted in August, that states the comments should be related to issues on the agenda from the previous month or the current month.
At the MPPDC meeting was a New York film crew of Al Jazeera English, the English version of the Arabic language news network. The Al Jazeera journalist, Kristen Saloomey, said they are working on a story on the politics of climate change. She interviewed one of the silenced speakers in the hall.
(The climate change debate between the CCMP and MPPDC was reported in a December 18, 2011 Washington Post article.)
Away from the meeting, Stall said there is a link between “Agenda 21 and the EPA and all of the federal bureaucracy. There is not one of them that is not involved in the transformation of America into a one-world government and it’s all being done through UN Agenda 21 and the regulations that are impacting our lives.”
Stall indicated local regulations, such as those supported by the MPPDC, foster Agenda 21.
“We’re saying why do we need these 23 planning district commissions [in Virginia]? Return the government back to the local people,” said Stall. “Comprehensive planning has always been done at the local level of government that is closest to the people. They are the ones we should be talking to. We shouldn’t have to go through this regional government. We don’t need this shadow government.”
This week MPPDC director Lawrence said regional cooperation saves money when it comes to meeting state mandates.
Each of nine localities in the MPPDC could have chosen to hire staff to meet state mandates as they are handed down, he said. Instead, localities have continued to use the MPPDC as a resource to meet mandates more economically and efficiently. “Working regionally lowers the cost,” said Lawrence, who added that some state funding is available only through planning district commissions.
In its 40 years, the MPPDC has returned $8.41 in regional community benefits for every local dollar invested, said Lawrence.
Regarding public comments, Lawrence said citizen input is an important component and could also be accomplished by area residents talking with their commission member, or calling him personally.
posted 02.01.2012
https://www.ssentinel.com/index.php/news/article/regional_debate_over_agenda_21_intensifies/