Article 2 - GENERAL POWERS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO ADOPT AND AMEND LOCAL LAWS; RESTRICTIONS 10 - General powers of local governments to adopt and amend local laws. 11 - Restrictions on the adoption of local laws.
New York Code - Laws: Municipal Home Rule
Agenda 21 in New York State - Home Rule and Article X
Numerous critics condemn the insidious
nature of Agenda 21. Usually the arguments are based upon the intrusion of the United Nations to mismanage the planet and
reduce people to a sinister petri dish experiment. Their reach and methods used by this octopus that is strangling the globe,
include specific actions that force their agenda down the throats of government entities. The recent passage of Article X
in New York State illustrates a direct assault on the treasured principle of Home Rule. Connecting the dots and tying
the links together forecast a grim reality that is ready to explode into a vicious turf fight.
The United Nations
publication for Sustainable Development describes their objectives and announcements.
Agenda 21 is a comprehensive
plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and
Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.
Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development, and the Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178 Governments
at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 3 to 14 June 1992.
The
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in December 1992 to ensure effective follow-up of UNCED, to monitor
and report on implementation of the agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels. It was agreed that
a five year review of Earth Summit progress would be made in 1997 by the United Nations General Assembly meeting in special
session.
The full implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Commitments
to the Rio principles, were strongly reaffirmed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg,
South Africa from 26 August to 4 September 2002.
Agenda
21 For Dummies
Ecogen Testimony - NYS PSC
The video Agenda 21 For Dummies is an excellent background overview.
New York State is a "Home Rule" jurisdiction, dating back to 1923. New York Municipal Home
Rule - Article 2 - § 10 General Powers of Local Governments to Adopt and
Amend Local Laws, provides the authority for the cherished prerogative of communities to control their destinies. The stark
conflict of local self-determination and the arbitrary imposition of bureaucratic fiats outlined in Agenda 21 are self-evident.
Under the guise of streamlining energy siting and land use, New York State has jumped to the tune of the globalist marching
band orders. In the darkness of midnight in a closed room, the new governor Andrew Cuomo pushed a secret version of Article X, and the legislature voted approval for the Power NY Act.
NY Senator Patricia Ritchie’s opposition explains the violation on Home Rule. Assembly representative
Sean Hanna's passionate argument against this attempt to diminish Home Rule,
echoes the sentiment. But, when it comes to lining the pockets of the latest robber barons, the role of corporatist power
broker law firms, like Albany’s Whiteman Osterman &
Hanna LLP, is quite evident.
The new Article X also makes provision for post decision challenges and imposes procedural
and substantive limits on potential claims. The bill prohibits the use of intervenor funds for litigation purposes. It also
provides that aggrieved parties must seek rehearing at the Siting Board before approaching the courts. Judicial challenges
must be brought in the courts of the Appellate Division, bypassing the trial court level, within 30 days from the issuance
of the Board’s decision on the application for rehearing. The bill also provides for deferential review under the "substantial
evidence" standard. Finally, the new law largely divests the state courts of jurisdiction to determine any cases that
seek to stop or delay construction of a generation facility that has received a certificate from the Siting Board.
The video of developer Ecogen’s Testimony before the NYS Public Service
Commission clearly demonstrate how citizen participation is surgically removed from the rush to rape the land and bury the
serfs under the cover of a green canopy. This example of a bogus Agenda 21 corporate welfare scheme to defraud the public
and feed the greed of foreign plutocrats stands squarely against the property rights of individuals and local communities.
The Wind Power Law Blog identifies salient elements in the legislation.
The famous (or infamous depending
on one’s point of view) Article X, which provided for the streamlined siting of power plants, expired in 2003. The old
Article X covered plants with 80MW or more of generational capacity. The new law should permit much faster siting of power
plants of only 25MW or greater capacity. It passed both the Assembly and Senate with overwhelming margins.
Governor Cuomo styles the new law as "An Investment to Create More Power in New York"
Streamline the permitting process for power plants greater than 25 megawatts by creating
a "one-stop" multi-agency siting board that will make siting decisions
Empower
communities to participate in the process by requiring power plant applicants to provide "intervenor funding" for
the community affected by the proposed plant to hire experts and lawyers
Improve
the environment and public health by requiring the siting board to determine whether a proposed facility will create a disproportionate
environmental impact in a community and, if so, requires applicant to minimize or avoid those impacts
The Community Environmental
Legal Defense Fund recognizes the inherent conflict in fast tracking unbridled and reckless
land development exploration for inefficient energy projects.
We believe that we are in the midst of an escalating ecological
crisis, and that the crisis is the result of decisions made by a relatively few people who run corporations and government.
In doing so, communities must challenge and overturn legal doctrines that have been concocted to eliminate their right to
self-government, including the doctrines of corporate constitutional rights, preemption, and limitations on local legislative
authority. Inseparable from the right to local self-government - and its sole limitation - are the rights of human and natural
communities; they are the implicit and enumerated premises on which local self-government must be built.
Home
Rule Forum
Home Rule Comments
Article X has another deceptive purpose.
Hydrofracking drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of NYS is the immediate underlying motive to obviate
Home Rule. A Frack Alert video from the Home Rule Forum makes the case for the danger of losing local control
of land use. Citizen community indignation is brewing up all over the state. Watch the reaction and outrage from ordinary people, who are in danger of being
forced off their land. When the potable water from the aquifer is no longer fit for human use, because of chemical pollution
from the fracking process, who will adjudicate relief?Another
legislative appeal why the State Should Respect "Home Rule" On Drilling, comes from State Senator James L. Seward:
"The topic of drilling in the Marcellus Shale has elicited an overwhelming response
with varied opinions on all sides of the issue. One thing that cannot be discounted moving forward is the desire of local
residents," said Senator Seward. "That is why I am co-sponsoring legislation (S.3472) that would empower local governments
and allow them to regulate natural gas drilling through local planning and zoning."
If
the political intrigue in New York State does not move you to action for protecting your own homestead, maybe you should focus
upon the linkage that this brutal policy of usurping local authority, has within the Agenda 21 plans for all of us. Tom DeWeese identifies, Who is behind it?
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (formally,
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives). Communities pay ICLEI dues to provide "local" community
plans, software, training, etc. Addition groups include American Planning Council, The Renaissance Planning Group, International
City/ County Management Group, aided by US Mayors Conference, National Governors Association, National League of Cities, National
Association of County Administrators and many more private organizations and official government agencies. Foundation and
government grants drive the process.
The entire substructure
of alphabet soup, state and federal agencies, are on notice to facilitate and implement the systematic purging of local independence.
Governor Cuomo left out the true meaning of the Power NY Act. "An Investment to Create More Power in New York"
is designed to consolidate central planning under the control of Agenda 21 dictates. This bill has little to do with fostering
cheap dependable energy, but has everything to do with neutering your local town board. This policy is not about energy. Look
into why New York State rejected the low cost guaranteed electricity proposal from Canada.
"New
York backed out of a long term contract with Hydro Quebec – a contract that was needed to justify the construction of
the "project of the century," the James Bay II project. As a consequence, Hydro Quebec put its planned James Bay
development "sur la glace" ("on ice") and activists celebrated the victory and moved on to other issues."
The Wall Street criminal syndicate
lusts for their cap and trade mandates so that the next financial bubble can start the next cycle of fleecing the public.
Remember that your own local government is viewed as an impediment to the Agenda 21. Soon your town board will be inoperative,
iced in the same manner as economical energy from O Canada . . .
“Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by EVERY person on Earth…it
calls for specific changes in the activities of ALL people… Effective execution of Agenda 21 will REQUIRE a profound
reorientation of ALL humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced… ” - Agenda 21: The Earth Summit
Strategy to Save Our Planet (Earthpress, 1993). Emphases – DR
