By Tom DeWeese  Guest Columnist

A policy called sustainable development is rapidly moving throughout Orange and Chatham counties and into nearly every community in America. Most equate the term with environmental conservation and land development. Few actually understand its true nature.

The term “sustainable development” first appeared in the official report of the 1987 United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, authored by Gro Harlem Brundtland, vice president of the World Socialist Party. Said the report:

“Poverty is a major cause and effect of global environmental problems. It is therefore futile to attempt to deal with environmental problems without a broader perspective that encompasses the factors underlying world poverty and international inequality.”

In short, sustainable development was created as a tool for redistribution of wealth.

The policy was officially introduced in 1992, at the UN’s Earth Summit, in a United Nations initiative called Agenda 21. The full concept of sustainable development is rooted in what are called the three E’s — social equity, economic prosperity, and ecological integrity. To simply focus on the planning aspects of sustainable development is to miss the entire social aspect of it.

Social equity is a term used to explain sustainable development as an economic scheme different from capitalism and socialism. In the comparison, sustainable development is defined in near utopian terms, as capitalism is dismissed as ownership by the wealthy elite which cares nothing for protecting the environment; and socialism, according to the Sustainablists, is inefficient and run by a political elite.

Instead, say the Sustainablists, their approach is “anticipatory,” which controls problems today to avoid them tomorrow. That, they say, is accomplished though strict environmental regulations, financing “green” industries, and planning for future generations. And that doesn’t simply entail local development, but a comprehensive plan to control every aspect of our lives, from population control, to food intake, to health care.

Sustainable development’s social equity plank is based on a demand for “social justice,” a phrase first coined by Karl Marx. It means that individuals must give up selfish wants for the needs of the “community.” Through such a policy, everyone has the right to a job with a good wage, a right to health care and a right to housing. To assure those rights, wealth must be redistributed. Property ownership is a social injustice which brings wealth to some. Business and property are to be controlled by all of society.

The third plank of sustainable development is economic prosperity — implemented through the creation of Public/Private Partnerships (PPPs). PPPs are little more than government-sanctioned monopolies that create an elite of specially chosen businesses that are granted “non-compete” clauses and comprehensive development agreements to guarantee profits. That is not free enterprise.

Sustainable development is implemented through a four-part process. In the rural areas it’s called The Wildlands Project. In the cities it’s called Smart Growth. In business it’s called Public/Private Partnerships (as mentioned above). And in government it’s called Stakeholder Councils.

The Wildlands Project is a diabolical plan first conceived by radical environmentalists like Earth First and later incorporated in the UN’s Biodiversity Treaty (also introduced at the 1992 Earth Summit). It calls for the “rewilding” of 50 percent of all the land in every state — meaning no human activity. The process locks away vast sums of land from farming, timber and mining use through rules and regulations which make such activities nearly impossible. Land locked away from productive use cuts the tax base, killing the community, forcing people to leave and move to larger cities.

Smart Growth draws a boundary around a community outside of which no development may occur. Roads, telephone, utilities are not extended to those areas to prevent development. Inside the city, efforts are made to make the use of automobiles difficult. Many new “sustainable” communities now provide no garages or parking spaces. Public transportation such as light rail trains are promoted. All homes must meet strict energy policy, forcing homeowners to pay thousands of dollars to comply. Land is at a premium, housing is limited and costly, forcing the building of high-rise condos rather than suburban housing with yards.

Inside the communities a new elite ruling class is taking control, called Stakeholder Councils. These are mostly non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focusing on a wide variety of special interests, from environmental concerns to historic preservation, to transportation, to energy use, and much more. These groups converge on elected bodies to enforce their agendas, resulting in the establishment of non-elected boards, councils and regional governments to carry out the policies. As such, members of these councils are not directly answerable to citizens of the community. This system of unelected boards basically fits the definition of a soviet.

And then there is ICLEI — the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. ICLEI helped write Agenda 21 and now works to implement the policy on the local level. At least 600 American cities now pay dues to ICLEI for its help in implementing Agenda 21.

Local communities now paying dues to ICLEI to enforce sustainable development include Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, and Chatham County. Citizens should take a hard look at just who in their community is making the policies that affect their lives.

Tom DeWeese is president of the American Policy Center, a national grassroots action organization focusing on American property rights and national sovereignty issues. www.americanpolicy.org