James Bruggers – Watchdog Earth

Anti-UN Agenda 21 bill passes Kentucky Senate

Posted on February 27, 2013 by James Bruggers

What could be called Kentucky’s “Black Helicopter Bill” just passed the Kentucky Senate, 32-4.

Senate Bill 80 now moves to the House, where its critics tell me they hope to stop it.

I blogged on this bill the other day, and you can find that posting here.

But suffice it to say that it takes aim at environmental sustainability — things like green roofs and planting trees. Specifically, it targets a 1992 United Nations Earth Summit document known as Agenda 21. But it’s totally voluntary.

The bill would prohibit a state agency or political subdivision of the state, such as a city or an agency like MSD, “from implementing any part of the United Nations Agenda 21 that is contrary to the United States or Kentucky Constitution, or being a member of or expending any public funds on a group or organization that will implement any part of the United Nations Agenda 21.”

One has to wonder whether it would block Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer from moving ahead with his Sustain Louisville plan.

The Tea Party sees Agenda 21 as a power grab, even a way to take away guns.

Kentucky Tea Party groups have been quite concerned, as this website indicates. From that website:

If you don’t think it will matter to you, it already does. Just from the little I know, Agenda 21 policies will ruin America as we know it. It will rob of us of ALL of our natural rights, including the right to bear arms and live where we choose, destroy private property rights in spite of the Constitution, finish off what little due process we have left and, through re-wilding, herd us into the cities where we’ll live on top of one another in a most unpleasant and unsustainable fashion.

And it will do this without ever passing a law.

Art Williams, who attended the 1992 Earth Summit, testified against the bill in the Senate. He described it as a “solution looking for a problem.”

- See more at: http://blogs.courier-journal.com/watchdogearth/2013/02/27/anti-un-agenda-21-bill-passes-kentucky-senate/#sthash.iSPYACOa.dpuf

Fellsmere city manager belongs to this organization

http://icma.org/en/icma/home

The Wildlands Project-[Wildlands Network]-Plan to completely transform Land Use in America

A letter from Bob Solari

http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102126239088-36/11+30+12+BUSHA.DOVER+LTR.pdf

More Agenda 21 Green Scam

Solar and Energy Loan Fund

Saves Money, Add Jobs

St. Lucie County is giving its residents and small businesses the ability to save energy, slash utility bills, improve comfort and security and boost their property equity through the precedent-setting Clean Energy Loan Program. Created in 2010, the program is offered through the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF), a nonprofit that is unlike any other in the nation. It is a lending institution with a social mission, providing low-cost financing so that clients can make energy-saving property improvements that they otherwise could not afford. The County created the program with seed money from state and federal grants but with the intention that SELF would operate independently and not as part of the County government. Its primary goal is to assist residents and businesses through a revolving loan program offering terms that are far more favorable than those found a traditional banks and credit unions.

The idea is simple: Provide property owners a way to save more money on energy costs than they pay through the loan, resulting in a net financial gain over time. As of August 2012, SELF had loaned more than $1.2 million to more than 150 property owners. These loans have allowed clients to make energy efficiency upgrades and install roof-top solar systems that have been proven to be cost-effective. SELF offers financing for more than two dozen types of energy efficient and renewable energy options, including:

• Weatherization (insulation, caulking, window and door replacement)
• Replacement of inefficient air-conditioning systems
• Window tinting, LED lighting, cool roof construction
• Installation of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and solar attic fans

Upfront costs are minimal. Interest rates are as low as 6 percent and terms as long as 15 years. As a result, SELF has eliminated financing as the biggest hurdle residents and businesses face in making energy-efficiency and conservation enhancements. The program educates property owners about the best ways to save energy and demonstrates the benefits of specific energy-related alternatives. It features professional-grade energy assessments that explain in simple term what improvements a home or business needs to make in order to cut its energy consumption.

Additionally, the Clean Energy Loan Program has put people to work, employing dozens of local contractors and businesses specializing in Heating and Cooling, Energy Conservation, Renewable Energy and other related trades. Some long-time businesses have reported a 25 percent increase in business directly linked to work created through SELF’s program. In order to participate in the program, contractors must meet high standards, thus assuring quality work that will have long-lasting benefits. SELF clients have been pleased with their improvements and continue to express their gratitude and satisfaction with the program. Clients have seen an average savings of 24 percent on their monthly kilowatt consumption. For many, this equates to hundreds of dollars in utility savings each year. In at least one case, a homeowner made improvements that have proven so effective his monthly electric bill was cut 100 percent. The program reduces energy consumption and thus, greenhouse gas production, resulting in environmental benefits as well.

SELF’s Dedicated Board, Staff

SELF is led by a group of visionary leaders, many with vast experience in financing, contracting, government and private practice. Its Board of Directors is comprised of community leaders representing a broad spectrum of the County. They are dedicated to seeing the program succeed and become sustainable for years to come. SELF’s headquarters in Fort Pierce house a full-time staff of six with a high level of energy and passion. These skilled employees are dedicated to assisting property owners through every step of the financing and construction process.

Through the Clean Energy Loan Program, SELF is creating a market for Green Economy jobs. It has partnered with the Green Collar Task Force and Indian River State College to put people to work and help students get their degrees while assisting SELF with its operations. The program has boosted St. Lucie County’s labor force, giving businesses a means of adding or retaining jobs as they recover from the devastating recession.

SELF has become a model for other energy-related institutions throughout the nation. It is looking to become a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury. This designation will allow SELF to access funding that will ensure that SELF can become fully sustainable. It also plans to offer commercial loans through a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, an innovative approach that will allow business owners to repay their loans through their annual tax bill, with the loan permanently tied to the property instead of the borrower. PACE is popular in states such as California and Colorado, and St. Lucie plans to lead the way in Florida by offering these popular loans to small businesses wishing to make improvements that will save money over time.

Not Your Typical Nonprofit

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, SELF keeps costs as low as possible to give property owners the greatest return on their investment. As SELF grows, it continues to seek donations, grants, and investments from lending institutions and foundations as well so that it can continue operating indefinitely. In the meantime, SELF is working to expand its services into the rest of the Treasure Coast and the Space Coast through partnerships with local governments and community organizations. Surrounding communities have opened their arms to SELF, whose future is as bright as the Florida sun. The Solar and Energy Loan Fund has the potential to become one of Florida’s leaders on energy efficiency financing, helping residents and business people while promoting the value of a Green Economy throughout the Sunshine State.

For more information, please call SELF at 772-468-1818 or visit http://cleanenergyloanprogram.org orwww.Facebook.com/SolarEnergyLoanFund

Solar and Energy Loan Fund Office
2400 Rhode Island Ave., Fort Pierce, Fla. 34950
(adjacent to Fire Station #1)

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Sustainable planning in question again in Concord

By JAKE BERRY

Staff Writer

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CONCORD – A change in the political winds hasn’t deterred at least one state legislator from fighting against the United Nations’ environmental agenda.

Despite long odds in the new Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, Rep. Lenette Peterson, R-Merrimack, has taken on the charge against Agenda 21, the U.N.’s nonbinding sustainable development platform.

Legislation proposing to ban the implementation of the agenda passed the Republican-led House earlier this year but fell short in the Senate. With a new Democratic majority in the House, a similar bill, introduced by Peterson, isn’t likely to get off the ground, she acknowledged.

Still, the agenda, which promotes sustainable land use planning, demands further scrutiny, as it continues to threaten private property rights, pushing residents to move into cities, Peterson said.

“In the long run, gas will be rationed. … You don’t need as much gas because everybody lives inside of city limits,” she said. “It’s total control of everything. … The public needs to be aware of this.”

Agenda 21, which doesn’t carry the force of law, has drawn criticism from Republican and Libertarian activists since it was adopted.

U.N. representatives adopted the plan in 1992, promoting multifamily dwellings and walkable communities, among other sustainability efforts. In the years since, more than 1,000 communities across 84 countries, including several New Hampshire cities, have supported the effort by joining the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives, which promotes the adoption of Agenda 21 across the globe.

Nashua has been a member since 2007, paying about $1,200 annually in membership dues to access the council’s network of peers, resources and technical guidance to work on clean energy and environmental projects. City officials and local planners have said the council has had no direct influence on their sustainability efforts, which include a new fleet of hybrid vehicles introduced last year.

“You would hope that our future is sustainable, right? That’s something we’re always thinking about,” Kerrie Diers, executive director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission, said Wednesday. “That just means understanding what is important to people, what do they value, what do they want to see preserved and figuring out how do we do that.”

The city’s effort have drawn scrutiny, as well.

In March, local members of the conservative John Birch Society demonstrated in front of City Hall, protesting Nashua’s affiliation with the council.

“I don’t like national or international organizations coming to Nashua and telling residents what they can or can’t do with their property,” Nashua resident Leif Parsell said at the time. “There are other ways to solve these problems.”

At the Statehouse, the legislation proposing to ban the implementation of Agenda 21 was dismissed initially in the House, but lawmakers then attached it as an amendment to a Senate bill relating to the management of Cannon Mountain. That proposal earned strong support in the House, passing 207-99. But it stalled in the Senate.

Peterson’s bill, to be taken up in the next Legislative session after the holidays, would bar communities from joining the International Council and from implementing the provisions of Agenda 21.

“We’re really trying to get cities and towns to do their homework. … There’s no such thing as free money,” Peterson said, referring to grants and other federal funding that communities receive to support sustainable projects.

But the proposal has a tough road ahead in the Democratic House. In the recent election, Democrats regained the House by a 221-179 majority, leaving the future of the proposal in doubt.

Party leaders didn’t return calls for comment Wednesday.

“It’s not going to pass. … It might not even get to the floor” of the House for a vote, Peterson said. “But the public still needs to be aware of this. … It affects us all.”