Sheila Knight Lane - Dear Editor

Letter to the Editor

Bainbridge Post Searchlight

How much do you know?

Are you wondering why we hear so much these days about sustainable development, comprehensive planning, smart growth, and going green?  Do you wonder why these terms seem to apply to so many areas such as transportation, infrastructure, land preservation, rural development, and regional government?  Do you know the origin of these terms and ideas?

If you are a builder, do you know why, based on State of Georgia law, you must now follow international building codes?

If you are a farmer, do you understand the purpose of land conservation/easement programs as they pertain to future land use?  Are you aware that the estate tax could be coming back and why?

If you are a local or state elected official, do you know why you have been encouraged and/or required to participate in regional planning?  Do you understand the recent focus by the federal government on public-private partnerships?

As a citizen, do you know why the State of Georgia amended its constitution to allow for regional government and that state bills have been enacted to advance the sustainability movement?  Do you know why the current U.S. president, by executive order, created the “first-ever” Rural Council on Economic Development?  Do you know that each department head, for example, of the EPA, FDA, Education, etc., are on this council and why?

Do you know why the current White House, in its proposed “American Jobs Act”, is pushing for an infrastructure bank?

And do you know how sustainability initiatives will affect private property rights?

To find answers to all of these questions and for a broader understanding of where this movement is taking us, go to the United Nation’s website at www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/  There you will find 40 chapters, of which Chapters 7, 10 – 22, 36, & 40 are particularly informative.

You might also be interested to learn who Gro Harlem Brundtland is (found on Wikipedia); what UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program), which was founded by Maurice F. Strong, is about (found at www.unep.org) ; and what the “Earth Charter”, written and presented by former communist leader, Mikhael Gorbachev, to the United Nations, is based on (also found on Wikipedia).

Sheila Knight-Lane

Bainbridge, GA

Member Bainbridge Tea Party Group


George Bivins
2545300
http://www.gradycountynews.blogspot.com/