Running Head: Sustainable Development Threatens Property Rights of Americans
In April 1987, the concept of sustainable development was created by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Norwegian Prime Minister and a Social Democratic politician. In the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, sustainable development is defined as “that development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland, 1987).” Unknown to the American public, sustainable development, aka United Nations (UN) Agenda 21, is a relatively quiet plan that “views the American way of life of private property ownership, single-family homes, private car ownership, individual travel choices, and private owned farms…as being destructive to the environment (Hayes, 2013).” American policies, currently being implemented by our government in compliance with UN Agenda 21, threaten the private property rights of all American citizens.
History and Analysis
As stated in the beginning of this article, the concept of sustainable development was created by The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) and defined in the Brundtland Report, “Our Common Future (Brundtland, 1987).” The chairwoman for this commission was former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland who is currently a Special Envoy on Climate Change to the United Nations and a Social Democratic politician. The Brundtland Report vaguely highlights three fundamental components to sustainable development: environmental protection, economic growth and social equity (Brundtland Report, 1987). Experts who attended a Freedom 21 Conference held in Reno, Nevada in July, 2004 offer the following explanations of the 3 E’s: social equity will be obtained by changing the wants and needs of individuals to conform to what is dictated by government...