New Communist Manifesto

There's a problem with Reagan's bloodless victory in the Cold War - all of the communists were free to go elsewhere and carry on their life's work. Their latest manifesto (that I'm aware of) is called: Agenda 21.

To wit: The 27 Principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

A few examples:

Principle 1 -

"Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature."

And all other rights not hereby enumerated are at risk.

Principle 2 -

"States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction."

Global Warming anyone?

Principle 3 -

"The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations."

Natural resources (fossil fuels) must be left in the ground for use by future generations. And future generations must leave it for those that follow them. And so on.

(I'm not sure I can take much more of this.)

Principle 4 -

"In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it."

Thou shalt not create buildings which trample a single plant or insect.

(Let's skip ahead a bit.)

Principle 15 -

"In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."

"Don't know where were goin' but there's no use bein' late!"

Principle 20 -

Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.

Perhaps women deserve government salaries for living sustainably (i.e. without engaging in commerce.)

Principle 24 -

"Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development. States shall therefore respect international law providing protection for the environment in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further development, as necessary."

"Hey Joe, where you goin' with that grenade in your hand?" Did you get an EIS first?

Principle 25 -

"Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible."

Aw shucks, ain't that nice?

Principle 26 -

"States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

Kumbaya.

Principle 27 -

"States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the fulfilment of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in the further development of international law in the field of sustainable development."

Thus shall it be. Amen.

Think none of this will ever effect you? My brother learned differently when he applied for a building permit in Boulder County.

Sustainability in Land Use in Boulder County

What is sustainability? (Notice that Boulder County now has a second web presence, in the .org domain.) Oy.