Stopping the UN’s Agenda 21 policy on sustainable development has become a rallying cry for the Tea Party across the U.S. | LSE United States Politics and Policy
In recent years the United Nation’s Agenda 21 policy has become the rallying cry for many in the Tea Party who believe that the U.N. threatens American sovereignty. This concern led the introduction of anti-Agenda 21 legislation in 26 states in 2012 and 2013. Karen Trapenberg Frick, David Weinzimmer and Paul Waddell find that conservative states were
LSE United States Politics and Policy Latest commentary and analysis on the United States from academic experts About Latest Submissions Follow us Search Blog Admin August 8th, 2014 Stopping the UN’s Agenda 21 policy on sustainable development has become a rallying cry for the Tea Party across the U.S. 1 comment | 5 shares Estimated reading time: 5 minutes LSE United States Politics and Policy Latest commentary and analysis on the United States from academic experts About Latest Submissions Follow us Search Blog Admin August 8th, 2014 Stopping the UN’s Agenda 21 policy on sustainable development has become a rallying cry for the Tea Party across the U.S. 1 comment | 5 shares Estimated reading time: 5 minutes 5 Shares In recent years the United Nation’s Agenda 21 policy has become the rallying cry for many in the Tea Party who believe that the U.N. threatens American sovereignty. This concern led the introduction of anti-Agenda 21 legislation in 26 states in 2012 and 2013. Karen Trapenberg Frick, David Weinzimmer and Paul Waddell find that conservative states were more likely to see the introduction of anti-Agenda 21 legislation. They writes that the widespread outbreak of introducing legislation may indicate a longer-term situation whereby sustainability opposition becomes part of the state agenda with continued public discussion and media attention. In light of this, planning communities must consider new methods of public engagement that encourages genuine dialogue. Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Kansas: That we recognize the destructive and insidious nature of United Nations Agenda 21 and hereby expose to public policy makers the dangerous intent of the plan… State of Kansas Approved House Resolution, 2012 For more than 20 years, the United Nations’ (U.N.) Agenda 21 Rio Declaration on Development and Environment, a source document on sustainable development intended to help governments understand and undertake measures to cope with climate change, was little known to U.S. city planners. Recently, however, it has become a rallying cry for Tea Party, property rights advocates and others, who have succeeded in introducing anti-Agenda 21 legislation in half the country’s state legislatures. The Kansas resolution, like similar resolutions proposed in many other states, describes the non-binding action plan that grew out of the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in this way: …The United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of environmental extremism, social engineering and global political control… This United Nations Agenda 21 plan of radical so-called “sustainable development” views the American way of life of private property ownership, single family homes, private car ownership, individual travel choices and privately owned farms as destructive to the Environment… Concerns about American sovereignty are not new, nor are assertions of a U.N.-led “one-world government” domination, which undergird this narrative of a U.N. of restricting individual property rights and redistributing wealth from developed to developing nations in the name of questionable climate change. What is new is the degree of legislative activism targeting sustainability planning efforts at all levels of government, from activists attending meetings in force to oppose local plans, to state legislation introduced to stop perceived Agenda-21-oriented practices by states and local governments. In recent research, we sought to understand this trend by examining the proposals and passage of state bills, which were introduced in over half the state legislatures in the U.S. These proposed bills take the form of binding legislation or non-binding resolutions, and use language similar to the above Kansas resolution as well as that contained within the U.S. Republican Party’s 2012 platform. This language is also found in the first bill to be passed by both chambers unanimously in 2012 in the State of Alabama. The loose coalition of activists consists of several thousand individuals throughout the U.S. call themselves “Americans Against Agenda 21,” or “AgEnders,” and there are numerous others actively engaged but not officially members of this group. Activists affiliate with local Tea Party, property rights, and liberty groups. The John Birch Society and American Policy Center promote anti-Agenda 21 opposition and legislation, and former Fox News host Glenn Beck added his name to a dystopian futuristic novel with an afterward that instructs citizens on recognizing and stopping Agenda 21. Proponents of this movement widely circulate training materials, YouTube videos, and tool kits for purchase. Agenda 21 opponents counsel cities to “get out of ICLEI” by cancelling their memberships to ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), a non-profit organization which assists cities with climate action planning. 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