Agenda 21 is a voluntary, non-binding action plan which is allegedly focused solely on sustainable development. Adopted by 178 countries in 1992, the plan is based upon a program to abolish poverty and protect “fragile environments” by “properly” managing cities. Some charge the program wants to push all citizens into cities.
Stopping Agenda 21 is at the top of Joni Ernst’s “to do” list if she gets elected to the U.S. Senate. In a recently posted campaign video the Iowa Republican vowed to fight for the property rights of all Americans and thwart the presumed objectives of the United Nations plan.
The United States is a signatory country to Agenda 21. Since the plan is a non-binding statement and not a treaty, a vote on the matter was deemed unnecessary. In the United States, more than 500 major and moderate-sized cities are members of an international sustainability organization that reportedly supports the implementation of Agenda 21.
Last week the Iowa Republican defeated her primary opponent last week and will be facing Democrat Bruce Braley this fall. The two candidates are vying for the retiring Democratic Senator Tom Harkin’s seat.
Property rights rights issues continue to make headlines nationwide due to an apparent increase in the use of eminent domain seizures. In 2013 Joni Ernst reportedly attended a conference on Agenda 21. Opposition has grown to the United Nations biodiversity plan in the past 12 months, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Concerns that the UN will use Agenda 21 mandates to govern zoning decisions, acquire land, and limit natural resources consumption are often noted as motivating factors by those vocally opposed to the plan.
Joni Ernst had this to say about the UN Agenda 21 plan in her video message:
“The United Nations has imposed this upon us, and as a U.S. Senator, I would say no more. No more Agenda 21. All of us agreed that Agenda 21 is a horrible idea, and I’m sure most of you have followed that. One of the implications to Americans, again, going back to what did it do to the individual family here in the state of Iowa, and what I’ve seen, the implications that it has here is moving people off of their agricultural land and consolidating them into city sectors and then telling them, ‘You don’t have property rights anymore. These are all things that the UN is behind, and it’s bad for the United States, it’s bad for families here in the state of Iowa.”
How do you feel about Agenda 21?
