Sustainable Freedom Lab

Recently, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNAUSA) attempted to debunk the idea that Agenda 21 was embedded in local community planning. They posted a ‘Myth v. Fact’ article called, “Agenda 21: Just the Facts.”

Sadly, it is riddled with misrepresentations and half-truths.  The following paper reprints “Agenda 21: Just the Facts,” but includes our responses in the boxes.

We hope you find the full explanations enlightening and will not take our word for it, but do your own research on Agenda 21 and sustainable development.

Download our response here (PDF file).

Across America, state and local officials are passing bills and issuing resolutions to protect citizen’s from the property eroding policies of Agenda 21.  Because most people do not recognize Agenda 21 in action, many property owners remain just as much at risk as if there were no resolution.

Click here to download a document that explains how Agenda 21 enters communities, what language to look for in grants, legislation, regulations and development plans and the steps officials can take to stop it.

About 2 years ago, I created a presentation called “False Choice.”  It’s well-researched, funny and factual—and it keeps people’s attention long enough for them to grasp the enormity of Agenda 21.

As you’ve probably experienced yourself, understanding the complexities of Agenda 21 can be frustrating. And explaining it to others even more so. Agenda 21 has been digging its tentacles into American’s property rights for over 40 years and it hides behind a dictionary’s worth of environmentally-friendly terms. For example: Sustainable Development became Agenda 21, which morphed into Smart Growth, which then mutated into compact living, walkable communities, buffer zones, health fairness, healthy homes, resilience initiatives, road diets and the all-inclusive Livability Principles.

Quite a mouthful of confusing gobbledygook, right?

That’s what my original “False Choice” presentation attempted to clarify. And it has been well received across the country for the past two years.

Then regionalism engaged. Regions have been around for years and people either love them or don’t even notice they are there.  So, how do you tell your neighbors that New York’s Capital Region Sustainability Plan actually rockets the spread of Agenda 21 faster than a Lamborghini dusting a Chevy Volt?

Helping people understand the impact of regionalism was the challenge.

My “False Choice” presentation was no longer good enough.  The regionalist movement has thoroughly changed the breadth and velocity of Agenda 21.  It means we need new awareness, new information and new ways to fight back.

The fight starts with an informed community.  In 2013, I rewrote the original “False Choice” presentation, bringing in tighter connections to today’s politicians and better examples of Agenda 21’s devastation.

I also added a second part to the presentation, covering Regionalism. It uses the same level of research, clarity and humor as the Agenda 21 portion. But this new material exposes how Regionalism hits hard at the losses of local public officials’ authority and shines a spotlight on the devious planners’ practices that rob community members of their input while declaring concern for their opinions.

Agenda 21 and Regionalism know no political boundaries. In 2009, when HUD’s actions stripped WestchesterCountyNY officials of their planning authority, Democrats and Republicans were equally scorched and their constituents equally disenfranchised.

If there is one message this presentation delivers, it’s that we must all work together. The enemy can no longer be “us.”

You can go here to find out more about “False Choice – How Agenda 21 is Transforming Property Rights” or to purchase a copy of the DVD.

Note: If you would like to purchase this DVD, but prefer to pay by check or money order, please download and print our interactive PDF form. (Note: If form filling does not work, please download the form first, then open and complete it using Adobe Acrobat Reader).

As the Chinese government’s centralized planning pushed more people into urban areas, home prices have been spiraling upward.  To prevent “excessively” high home price increases, the central authority will publish price controls, increase transaction prices, add stamp duties and possibly impose higher taxes.  With the vigorous push in the U.S. for regionalism, using tools like HUD’s intrusive eCon Planning Suite and supported by centralized government initiatives like Sustainable Communities, China’s reality may soon become part of the American landscape.  Already CA communities are setting the purchase prices for ”affordable” housing and limiting the selling prices.

By Bloomberg News

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on local authorities to “decisively” curb real estate speculation and take steps to rein in the property market after data showed prices surged the most in two years last month.

Cities that have had “excessively fast” price gains should promptly impose home-purchase restrictions if they’ve not done so already, China said in a statement released yesterday after a State Council meeting headed by Wen. Provincial capitals and municipalities reporting directly to the central government should also publish annual price control targets to keep new-home costs “basically stable,” according to the statement. Read the rest of this entry »

By Douglas Stump

For the Lebanon Daily News

CORNWALL – Borough Council declared the borough’s independence Monday night when it passed a resolution opposing Agenda 21 and then pulled out of the Cornwall-Lebanon Regional Comprehensive Plan.

Agenda 21 is a nonbinding, volun tary plan developed by the United Nations in 1992 to encourage sustain able development worldwide. The resolution passed by council states in part that “citizens across the United States of America and citizens of Cornwall Borough have raised con cerns that United Nation Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering and global political control” and that it “attempts to erode the local control found in our communities across the nation, and turns home and regional rule over to a global agenda.”

“They want to take away a lot more of our rights,” said Councilman John Karinch. “They don’t want graz ing by animals, ski resorts or golf courses. We’ve got to stop this, and it starts right here.”

After further discussion, council voted unanimously to pass the resolu tion “to protect the property rights of our citizens” and to expose “to the public and public policy makers the dangerous intent of the plan.” Read the rest of this entry »

Electric car maker Tesla  is embroiled in a bitter public fight with The  New York Times over whether the paper unfairly criticized one of Tesla’s  cars.

The battle has become a he-said, she-said affair, with both sides accusing  the other of dirty tricks.

Regardless of who’s right, the whole experience reveals why today’s  all-electric cars are, for all intents and purposes, dead on arrival:

Because they’re not that useful for one of the key uses that most would-be  car-owners would want to use them for — the ability to comfortably,  conveniently, and reliably transport oneself from city to city without living in  fear that the battery will die and leave car and driver stranded.  Read more.

“Thus by almost any objective measure, the financial health of the Social Security system has entered a concerning decline.” – 2012 Social Security Administration Summary

Many argue Social Security is not in trouble since the Social Security Trust Fund contains government backed Treasury notes, not IOU’s and will not run out of cash until 2044.  In reality, that spells big trouble.  Treasury notes are simply IOU’s from a fiscally irresponsible government and knowing you are running out of money means you need to act.

According to the 2012 “Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs” published by the U.S. Social Security Administration, Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance  and Medicare are all in financial trouble.  Read the rest of this entry »

Few Constitutional rights are more clearly defined in wording and context than U.S. citizen’s second amendment right to own and use arms.

When our Declaration of Independence was signed, America was a British colony rendering that document worthless.  Yet, our ancestors guaranteed its authority through a test of war. Without colonial arms, there would be no free America today.  Later, the Constitution’s authors knew that power-hungry politicians create their own elitism and eventually transform every nation’s will into either compassionate or forced serfdom.  This single right assured that Americans would always have the means to stop political tyranny.

Yet, the very people claiming to support this right are busily deconstructing it at a breakneck pace.

Just 30 days after the Sandy Hook shooting, the NY state assembly, and Senate passed and Gov. Cuomo signed into law, the “toughest gun control legislation” in the U.S..  Read the rest of this entry »

You asked for it—now here it is!

Last September, Tom DeWeese and I streamed our first SFL training program, Stopping Agenda 21 in Your Community, to a limited audience. I invested a significant amount of my own money in video gear and software to produce this program, but it was my first time in front of the camera for a “real” SFL program, so I wanted to gauge the reaction from our test audience before rolling out the video to everyone.

I’m proud to say that the early screening was a success! And people have demanded that we make this program available ever since that September screening.

Read the rest of this entry »

“If there is a clock in the deal, walk away.”  This old scammer’s saying holds good advice for community members and local officials faced with fast talk and colorful planners’ proposals.  Planner’s survey results and long-range promises rarely hold up under close inspection.  Therefore, they slickly market a crisis as the need for immediate action, before real scrutiny can take place.  Anything from “poor air quality,” “overcrowding,” “pollution,” “obesity,” and “highway congestion,” to “fragmented natural habitats,” “endangered species” and even “climate change” become convenient alarms requiring instant action.

Read the rest of this entry »