UN RIO + 20 Conference

50,000 hard core America hating leftists and environmental demagogues, who envision controlling the world through establishing choke-holds on economic growth, that they prefer to call “smart growth” or “sustainable development”, are presently meeting in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil for the RIO + 20 United Nations Conference.

The conference marks the 20^th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, in Rio de Janeiro , and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg and is scheduled to conclude today with the signing of a watered down agreement that won't make many of the more radical attendees happy.

According to the web site for RIO + 20, the conference was suppose to focus on two themes: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development.

In addition to the world's “greenies”, regional planners, and government bureaucrats, who have been  busy little bees trying to escort the richest countries in the world back to the 19^th century, since the first conference, there are also in attendance 100 heads of states including French President Francois Hollande; Russian Leader Vladimer Putin; and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Because US President Barack Obama, Britain's David Cameron, and German Leader, Angela Merkel are absent from the big confab, there is little hope of imposing the type of commitments from the worlds richer nations to assist in their creation of a global socialist utopia, bearing the stamp of approval of the United  Nations.    

According to Kumi Nardoo, executive director of Green peace:  The future we want has gotten a little further away today. RIO + 20 has turned into an epic failure.(Awe...) It has failed on equity (which means confiscation of private property including redistribution of income); failed on ecology; (figuring out how to save one of trillions of planets God has created, as if He needs their help); and failed on economy ( creative ways to destroy capitalism worldwide, particularly in the United States)

This is not a foundation on which to grow economies or pull people out of poverty, it's last will and testament of a destructive twentieth century development model

By twentieth century development model, I assume they're talking about the United States of America and the greatest economy the world has ever known, thanks to the creative use of natural resources God has created and generously provided for man's access; such as fossil fuels, which most of these greenies despise like Maurice Strong, the Secretary General of the UN’s 1992 Earth Summit, who is in attendance at RIO +20

Strong was quoted during his opening speech at the summit in 1992 as saying: Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable. And that was one of the milder quotes he has made over the years.

Maurice Strong was also quoted in the September edition of National Review magazine: What if a small group of world leaders were to conclude that the principal risk to the Earth comes from the actions of the rich countries? And if the world is to survive, those rich countries would have to sign an agreement reducing their impact on the environment. What will they do? The groups conclusion is no. The rich countries won't do it. They won't change. So, in order to save the planet , the group decides: Isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn't it our responsibility to bring this about?

(Well, actually Mr Strong, our president, Barrack OBama, has done a pretty good job bringing about the collapse of the US economy without the help of the UN, so maybe you could see that he is presented with some type of anti-capitalist medal. I'm sure he'd appreciate it.)

Another statement that shows that one of the founders of the sustainable development movement was  concerned with a much more radical and diabolical world takeover plan than simply differentiating between a container for recycables and one for trash or the construction of bicycle and walking paths, can be seen in the following quote attributed to Maurice Strong  in 1992:

It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the imperatives of global environmental co-operation.

And

          Our concepts of ballot - box democracy may need to be modified to produce strong governments capable of making difficult decisions. (you mean like...dictatorships, Maurice)

The word coming from this years conference attendees, however,  is the tone is much more moderate and it is unlikely that the agreement the member nations sign today will contain any drastic restriction measures for the worlds  industrialized nations. So any attendees who were hoping the agreement might  ban the use of cars or TV's, (LOL) or contain any language in the document that would mandate direct transfers of environmenally sound technologies. is sure to return home disappointed.

The US and other rich nations have said that simply violates intellectual property laws, while poorer nations insist there is no way they can afford to pay for the advanced equipment that would, for instance, allow factories to operate in a way that pollutes less.

Much of the blame for the less militant approach being tendered this time around, than convincing the representatives of the member nations attending the conference that the annihilation of the planet is at hand, is being blamed on powerful corporate lobbying efforts.

Craig Bennet, director of policy and campaigns at Friends of the Earth, was quoted as saying in an article entitled RIO + 20: the Earth Summit diaries, Friday 22, June:

It's clear from the  mood here in RIO that many NGOs and civil society groups believe corporate influence has caused the UN to forget it's core mission. It's time for the UN and it's member states to restate that their overriding perogative is to serve the public interest, not private profit.

So take a few deep breaths, my green friends attending the conference in the bossa nova capital of the world, and put on your shades and take a walk along the beach in RIO, and take in a few solar rays, not for the purpose of  harnessing an unproven,  new energy source, but for getting a nice tan,.  

Hey…maybe you'll discover the palm tree that Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote Girl from Ipanema. under many years ago.  Anything's possible, when you're allowed to wander freely, apart from the searing gazes of  your fellow environmental regulators and green "nut job" friends.

Sources:

Economy casts shadow on RIO + 20 environmental summit

RIO + 20 Dispatch: RIO Re-do


The RIO + 20 Conference

RIO + 20: the Earth Summit diaries, Friday 22 June

Agenda 21 in One Easy Lesson