The Connection Between “Sustainable Development” and the Middle Peninsula Counties’
The Connection Between “Sustainable Development” and the Middle Peninsula Counties’
Comprehensive Plans
The entire concept of Sustainable Development is based upon the presumption that: 1) the environment
must be saved from humanity, and 2) justice demands that all people share equally in the earth’s
resources. As a starting point, the proponents of sustainability take the baseless hypothesis of man-caused
global warming (aka anthropogenic climate change) as dogma. (The earth’s mean temperature has indeed
been rising, albeit unevenly, since the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, driven by solar radiation. It
will continue to rise into the indefinite future regardless of what mankind does or does not do, and then
will begin to fall in its natural cycle.)
The fabrication of catastrophic fear is the tool by which special interest groups manipulate the public to
accept particular agendas. One of the primary mechanisms governments employ to expand and maintain
power (admirably illustrated in Michael Crichton’s book Fear) is to generate perceived crises so that the
governed will look to them for salvation. Global warming is only the most recent example. Others
include the “unstoppable” ice age (1975), the hole in the ozone layer, and mass starvation by overpopulation,
espoused initially by Thomas Malthus, and later by Paul Ehrlich.
The 1992 UN Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro generated a document titled UN Agenda 21, which was
officially adopted by 178 countries, including the United States, under George H. W. Bush. This
document (nearly 300 pages) presumes to describe a global plan of action to restore the earth’s
environment to pre-human quality and to provide a healthy economy for all people on the planet.
The cost of enacting these reforms is to be borne by the industrialized nations, which concurrently are
expected to dramatically reduce their use of energy and natural resources and to distribute these resources
equitably among the poorer nations. The term coined for implementing these reforms is “sustainable
development”, to be enacted at all levels of government worldwide, through restrictive regulation, rezoning,
tax contributions, financial incentives, energy credits and fees, among others.
Sustainable Development has become a near religious mantra in the promotion of a world governing body
of elites, under the guise of saving the environment. The term “sustainable” now pervades our cultural
lexicon and was made U.S. federal policy by President Clinton in 1995 by Executive Order 12858,
creating the President’s Council on Sustainable development. The Council’s charter is to “harmonize”
U.S. environmental policy with UN Agenda 21.
To put it plainly, Sustainable Development is a benevolent sounding phrase that actively promotes the
dictates of a self-appointed global elite at the expense of private property rights, our liberties and
ultimately, U.S. sovereignty. The globalists admit that such sweeping changes would be impossible over
the short term, but that over time, little by little, they can be achieved.
The well thought out strategy is to subtly influence governance down to the local levels toward the
desired goals via grants and regulation. The Comprehensive Development Plans required of all
municipalities in the nation are the bottom level and ultimately the product of NGOs such as ICLEI (the
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives). These organizations are supported by dues
from local municipalities and by government grants to “assist” the municipalities in developing their
Plans, usually through regional planning districts, such as the Middle Peninsula Planning District
Commission (MPPDC) and Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.
What is not generally made known to the municipalities and regional planners is that the Comprehensive
Plans, fashioned by the Planning Commissions, with the help of the NGOs, are in lock step with the
provisions of UN Agenda 21. The Mathews County Comprehensive Plan is a good example of this
effect.
Lovely sounding concepts such as “… a model community that showcases quality of life, natural
resources and environmentally friendly sustainable development practices” are employed to sell the Plan.
Further on we encounter provisions for hiking and biking trails that weave through forest and meadows,
all while strengthening the local economy. Who could be against such an enticing future?
A deeper look reveals less rosy provisions. How do significant areas rezoned and sold at a loss to taxexempt
conservancy groups contribute to the economy? The range of topics in an associated Smart
Growth Manual, as reflected in the Comprehensive Plan, include: “taming” the automobile, restrictive
rezoning, a bicycle network (as the preferred, local transportation means), increased residential density,
workplace redistribution, shared wealth, and regulating water and electricity use. Frequent references are
made to “Climate Change” and rising sea levels and sustainability as justification.
When serious questions are posed to the various Boards of Supervisors as to the origin and intent of the
Plans, there is denial of any outside influence and that all of the Plans’ contents originated locally and are
approved by the local populace. Such assertions display a lack of understanding that the Plans were
basically developed by the MPPDC (most localities do not have the resources to develop independent
plans on their own) and reflect the UN Agenda 21 precepts passed down to them.
What is being imposed on the residents of the Middle Peninsula via the various Comprehensive Plans is
but thinly disguised regulations and mandates emanating from the United Nations and a complicit, elitist
federal government. The influence of UN Agenda 21 can be rolled back, as has been done in several
Virginia counties, but it must start with electing representatives to our Boards of Supervisors and our
planning Commissions in the next election, who are educated and understand the risks to our rights and
freedom engendered in UN Agenda 21, and its connection to our current planning process. The Middle
Peninsula municipalities must dissociate themselves with the unelected, quasi-governing bodies such as
the MPPDC and HRPDC (Hampton Roads) and carefully re-examine our Comprehensive Plans to assure
they reflect what our citizens really want and need.
“The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to control it.” – H. L. Menken